Cover Sea Of Shadows

About The Film

A looming disaster in one of the most spectacular environments on Earth sparks a rescue mission unlike any other in SEA OF SHADOWS, a riveting new documentary with the intensity of a Hollywood thriller from National Geographic Documentary Films and winner of the Sundance audience award. When Mexican drug cartels and Chinese traffickers join forces to poach the rare totoaba fish in the Sea of Cortez, their deadly methods threaten to destroy virtually all marine life in the region, including the most elusive and endangered whale species on Earth, the vaquita porpoise.

SEA OF SHADOWS follows a team of dedicated scientists, high-tech conservationists, investigative journalists and courageous undercover agents as well as the Mexican Navy as they put their lives on the line to save the last remaining vaquitas and bring the vicious international crime syndicate to justice.

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A film by RICHARD LADKANI

Featuring

  • Jack Hutton

    Drone Pilot, Sea Shepherd

  • Andrea Crosta

    Earth League International (ELI)

  • Carlos Loret de Mola

    Investigative Journalist (Televisa)

  • Dr. Cynthia Smith

    Program Manager of VaquitaCPR

  • Javier & Alan Valverde

    Fishermen of San Felipe

Produced by

  • Walter Köhler

    Producer

  • Wolfgang Knöpfler

    Producer

  • Leonardo diCaprio

    Executive Producer

  • Jennifer Davisson

    Executive Producer

  • Phillip Watson

    Executive Producer

  • Dinah Czezik-Müller

    Executive Producer

  • Scott Z. Burns

    Executive Producer

  • Carolyn Bernstein

    Executive Producer

  • Ryan Harrington

    Executive Producer

  • Laura Nix

    Executive Producer

  • Rebecca Cammisa

    Executive Producer

  • Michael Frenschkowski

    Executive Producer

  • Anita Ladkani

    Development Producer

Directed by

  • Richard Ladkani

    Director

Cinematography by

  • Richard Ladkani

    Director of Photography

Production Manager

  • Anita Ladkani

    Production Manager

  • Michael Fröch

    Post-Production Supervisor

Edited by

  • Georg Fischer

    Editor

  • Verena Schönauer

    Editor

Sound Design

  • Bernhard Zorzi

    Sound Design

  • Michael Plöderl

    Sound Design

Additional Camera by

  • Tobias Corts

    2nd camera

  • Holger Fleig

    Drone Pilot

  • Jürgen Christa

    Drone Pilot

  • Abdull Nurdin-Hussein

    DIT

Graphics and Animation

  • Felix Geremus

    3D Animation

  • Alexander Siquans

    Graphics & Animation

Location Sound by

  • Roland Winkler

    Location Sound

Music by

  • H. Scott Salinas

    Original Score Composed By


Press Reviews

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"It’s become a little easy to say that a documentary unfolds like a big-budget spectacle, but “Sea of Shadows” — a suspenseful, wide-screen drama filled with gunfire, cartels and corruption — is actually shot and edited like one."

Full Review
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"With its clear crowd-pleasing credentials confirmed by an audience award win at Sundance, “Sea of Shadows” will sail through the festival circuit."

Full Review
los angeles times

"The stark reality this documentary depicts, however, turns out to be far darker than anyone could imagine. The result is a chilling real-life criminal thriller set in a save-the-seas world."

Full Review

Production Partners

National Geographic Documentary Films presents a Terra Mater Film Studios production,
in association with Appian Way, Malaika Pictures & The WildLens Collective.

terra mater
appian way
national geographic