US Pre-screening of Sharkwater in Florida

I know there was another thread about this movie previously but since the movie just started pre-screening here in Florida I thought I'd start another thread. More and more US-ers will see it now......

Tonight there was a special pre-screening press party "meet & greet" and showing of the movie in St Petersburg Florida, hosted by the Pier Aquarium. Lots of press, Ocean Conservancy people, local Aquarium people, fisheries, NOAA guys - lots of people I recognized but didn't have time or the space to go and talk to! It was PACKED - (this can only be good for sharks and their cause)!!

I have to say I really liked the film, I think the film accomplishes its purpose to disseminate the data and utter brutality that is involved in shark finning.

I thought these were the films strongest points:

1) Naming organized crime as being behind illegal shark finning and pointing out that it is only second in illegal profitability to illegal drug running. This makes a lot of sense to me. (But I don't think Rob will be making any friends in Taiwan........)

2) Interviewing the Chinese bride in her wedding dress - she said that she was not going to serve shark fin soup to her 400 guests and tell them why. Seemed like a very sincere and honest part of the film and something that must be done to stop the demand.

3) Soundtrack was quite good for a documentary. I particularly liked that they wove in Nina Simone singing 'Sinnerman' during a tense part of the film. Nobody ever sang a protest song like Nina and I think that added a powerful peak to the cause to stop illegal shark finning.

4) Footage was varied and different. Yes some was lovely, like Blue Planet but a lot was lower budget, concealed or older recycled stuff and for me it made an interesting mix that kept my attention. It was very brutal though - I'd escort any young people I knew who wanted to see it and let them talk about it so they don't have nightmares. I think the brutal nature of it though was necessary considering the brutal nature of the shark slaughter problem. Sometimes equivalent force is needed to combat great wrongdoing.

5) I actually liked the footage of him freediving.

I do not think the film was overly narcissistic. Yes Rob did put himself in the film a lot but not near as much as people who make movies of themselves dying of breast cancer or aids - no I don't think he featured himself too prominently personally given what he went through to make the movie and the important issues he deserves to be in it. And he did say at the beginning that it was a "personal journey" and it came off that way.

What I didn't like about the movie:

1) Allying with Sea Shepard so much was a gutsy call. I have to say I'm not against the Sea Shepard, it serves a pivotal role in the film and I respect that Paul from the Sea Shepard feels he has to use those sort of tactics, yes it is a lot of criminal activity in illegal whaling and shark finning that is being dealt with. But I personally think Paul from the Sea Shepard is pretty extreme - although again that is his style and he is doing his thing for the oceans. Still maybe a little more diplomacy could be weaved in there somewhere? Sometimes if you project antagonism you just create more and greater antagonism. But again I'm not doing the job he is doing or dealing with the horrible things he has seen so I'll reserve judgement (from my ivory tower here..... :-0)

2) I don't like Eric Ritter at all and I don't think he is that much of a shark expert to be interviewed as much as he was in the film. Eric Ritter made a stupid mistake that gave bull sharks a bad-er name than they already had and I think he lost any rights he ever had as any sort of opinion leader in the shark community. Too bad Rob couldn't get more of Sam Gruber in there, he is a cool guy who knows his stuff. Still there were some other interviews with key environmental people and officials that I liked.

All in all a great film and a huge task to make. I think it will do a lot to disseminate the problems sharks face and hopefully affect change to stop them declining to a point of no return and it keeps people's attention fixed for the whole duration - that is something for a documentary.

Thanks Rob for making the film!!!!!

That's what I thought for what it is worth!! Carol

Carol:

Thanks for the great report. After hearing about it and reading about it for months, I can't wait to see the movie.

Doug

Yes Doug actually Bob Smyth from the Ocean Conservancy liked it better than I did.

I know there had been some critical comments about it previously on WP but Bob Smyth is an opinion leader in the community around here and here is what he had to say about it (and perhaps some were being too critical of it previously?):

"Dear Friends,

As most of you know, I am a strong advocate of ocean conservation. I have had a fascination with the ocean since I was very young, and a special love for sharks. I too was raised in the Jaws error when a movie scared people out of the water for several summers. If you asked me then, I would have told you that you were nuts if you suggested diving in the ocean with sharks. I remember being asked by a friend if I wanted to take dive lessons while I was in the military, and out of fear of sharks I said no.

In time my fascination for the ocean got the better of me and I reluctantly began diving. If I only knew then what I know now I would have started diving long ago. I have sent out photos (see attachment) to some of you who thought I was nuts, or just stupid to be in the water with sharks. I still have that little voice in the back of my head that tells me to watch out for the sharks. That little voice has been from years of conditioning that sharks are evil man eaters. I have come to learn that nothing could be further from the truth, and in fact it's the sharks that have to watch out for people. I feel very comfortable being in the water with sharks now and look forward to seeing them.

Over 100,000,000 (that's one hundred million in case I didn't get the zero's right) sharks are killed each year in commercial fisheries including long lines and pirate boats. Most of these sharks have their fins cut off for shark fin soup, a delicacy in Asian countries. The rest of the shark is thrown back in the ocean dead or dying with no hope of survival. This practice has been going on for years and has brought shark populations to critical levels. About 90% of all pelagic sharks are now gone and are in serious need of conservation measures. Sharks are very important to the ocean ecosystem and their loss has a ripple effect throughout the oceans.

Last night, Gail and I went to a sneak preview of the move Sharkwater, which was a documentary about the plight of sharks due to years of overfishing. I am asking you to go and see the movie Sharkwater which will be in theaters starting September 26th. Better yet, take your children or other young and impressionable minds so that they may learn to appreciate and conserve these wonderful animals and not grow up fearing them like I, and so many of my friends and family were. If nothing else, please check out the movie trailer http://www.sharkwater.com/ and find out how you can help the oceans and sharks. If you don't do it for yourself, do it for your children.

Best fishes,

Bob Smyth

Advocate for wild, healthy oceans

I was puzzled by Rob Stewart's interpretation of the West's attitude toward sharks, which seemed out of date by ten or twenty years. Yes, he found some rednecks in Australia who liked killing sharks, a Taiwanese fin merchant who doesn't care much for his prey (surprise!), and some ancient Navy training footage film talking about how sharks are savage, mindless killers. But it's just unfair of him to suggest that people in general still have the post-Jaws mentality of fear and loathing. And it's also insulting, because many of us had the epiphany that sharks aren't scary long long ago. Western attitudes towards sharks have changed dramatically, and the problem is not so much fear or loathing but an apathy toward what is happening to shark populations that are often out of sight and well outside the EEZs of Western countries. Maybe Stewart was a late bloomer in terms of an eco-philosophy toward sharks, and maybe he simply had the means ($$) and the passion to embark upon his personal journey of building friendships with sharks and attacking fishermen who presumably didn't have the same options he had in life. But it really rubbed me the wrong way how he portrayed himself as a lone hero amidst a sea of morons. There were shades of Timothy "Grizzly Man" Treadwell in there. Just as Treadwell convinced himself that he was "protecting" bears by camping amongst them in Alaska, Stewart somehow felt it was helpful to sharks if he freedived amongst them off Cocos. It's one thing to go out and make documentaries; it's another thing entirely to consider physical proximity to your subject (while wearing a Speedo, no less) to be good anyone but yourself.

Unless, of course, they do eat you. In which case it works out for them, at least for a while.

And he totally lost me when his monotone narration stated that "sharks were gods." Blech.

I saw Sharkwater last night; I do have to give Rob Stewart credit for attempting to bring the problem of sharkfinning into mainstream consciousness. Unfortunately, if the attendance I saw last night is anything to go by, he is not likely to be successful. There were three other people in the theatre besides my family.

He had some excellent footage early on and into the middle of the movie, but I think the film could have been far more effective though if he had not been quite so self-serving, particularly toward the end. He seemed to run out of things to say about the problem, when he filmed himself lying in bed supposedly with 'flesh-eating' disease, yet hardly looking too ill to this medically trained eye, and then taking out his own IV - give me a break. And then at the end scooting around happily with his waterscooter.

My sense was that his footage of the illegal fishing, and the Sea Shepherd etc, could have been better utilized as part of a larger more scholarly, and less amateurish production, maybe part of a more extensive collaborative effort. Even the website is poorly done.

Hopefully this will be just the beginning for him, and he moves on to creating bigger and better things, that are less about him, and more about the problem (s)

I do think this movie will be an excellent movie to show in schools as part of an educational program - I will try to have it shown at my kids school once it becomes available.