Sea of Shadows

{{Infobox film

| name = Sea of Shadows

| image = Sea of Shadows poster.jpg

| alt =

| caption =

| director = Richard Ladkani{{cite web |url=https://www.austrianfilms.com/film/sea_of_shadows |title=Sea of Shadows

|publisher=Austrian Films}}

| producer = Wolfgang Knöpfler
Walter Köhler

| starring = Romel Eduardo Ledezma Abaroa
Rafael Pacchiano Alamán
Hector Capetillo
Andrea Crosta
and others

| music = H. Scott Salinas{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2019/film/reviews/sea-of-shadows-review-1203145254/ |title=Film Review: 'Sea of Shadows'

|work=Variety|date=2019-02-21

}}

| cinematography = Richard Ladkani

| editing = Georg Michael Fischer
Verena Schönauer

| studio = Terra Mater Factual Studios{{Citation|title=How 'rapid impact' films are igniting change for the planet

|url=https://www.redbull.com/pk-en/sea-of-shadows-documentary-terra-mater}}
Appian Way Productions
Malaika Pictures
The Wild Lens Collective

| distributor = National Geographic Documentary Films
Fox Searchlight Pictures{{cite web|title=Sea of Shadows (2019)|website=Filmratings.com|access-date=13 May 2024|url=https://www.filmratings.com/search?filmTitle=Sea%20of%20Shadows}} (uncredited)

| released = {{Film date|2019|09|20|ref1=}}

| runtime = 104 minutes

| country = Austria

| language = English + Spanish

| gross = $1,996

}}

Sea of Shadows is a 2019 documentary about environmental activists (Sea Shepherd), the Mexican Navy, marine scientists and undercover investigators trying to prevent the extinction of the vaquita, a species of porpoise and the smallest whale in the world, by pulling gillnets, doing research, and fighting back Mexican cartels and Chinese mafia who are destroying ocean habitats in their brutal pursuit to harvest the swim bladder of the totoaba fish, known as the "cocaine of the sea".{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2019/11/sea-of-shadows-documentary-cartels-1202185716/|title=The Director of 'Sea of Shadows' Faced Down Cartels to Show the Fight to Save the World's Smallest Porpoise – IndieWire|first=Jean|last=Bentley|date=2019-11-08}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/sep/26/sea-of-shadows-review-vaquita-totoaba-mexico-documentary|title=Sea of Shadows review – porpoise documentary slips through the net|first=Peter|last=Bradshaw|date=September 26, 2019|work=The Guardian}}{{Citation|title=Sea of Shadows|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt9326056/|publisher=IMDb|access-date=2020-02-01}}{{cite web |title=Sea of Shadows Official Trailer |url=https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=QiFjJCUd9ro |via=YouTube |work=National Geographic |date=2019-05-30 |access-date=2020-02-29}} (1:58) "In award-winning SEA OF SHADOWS, a multinational team of scientists, activists, journalists and undercover agents go up against drug cartels and illegal traffickers to save the most endangered whale on Earth. In select theaters July 12."{{cite web |last1=Linden |first1=Sheri |title='Sea of Shadows': Film Review - Sundance 2019 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/sea-shadows-review-1177496 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=2019-01-30 |access-date=2020-02-29}} The 1 hour and 44 minutes long film is directed by Richard Ladkani.

Reception

Sea of Shadows premiered in Austria on September 20, 2019. It won the Sundance award for World Cinema Documentary and was acquired by the National Geographic Channel for broadcast The film received the Cinema for Peace International Green Film Award in 2020. [2]{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2019/10/sea-of-shadows-premiere-date-nat-geo-1202766010/|title=Sundance Winner 'Sea Of Shadows' Gets Nat Geo Airdate|first1=Patrick|last1=Hipes|date=October 22, 2019|work=Deadline Hollywood}}{{cite web |last1=Sundance Institute |title=World Documentary Competition: Sea of Shadows |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw_5FXua5Ls |via=YouTube |publisher=Sundance Institute |date=2019-01-08 |access-date=2020-02-29}} (2:54) "Meet Richard Ladkani, director of Sea of Shadows, playing in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival." "Conveying just how fraught and delicate conservation efforts can be, logistically and emotionally, an extraordinary sequence unfolds as a pursuit on the water, placing the viewer smack in the midst of it."