{{short description|2019 film}} {{Infobox film | name = Sea of Shadows | image = Sea of Shadows poster.jpg | alt = | caption = | director = Richard Ladkani<ref name=wb2>{{cite web |url=https://www.austrianfilms.com/film/sea_of_shadows |title=Sea of Shadows |publisher=Austrian Films}}</ref> | producer = Wolfgang Knöpfler<br>Walter Köhler<ref name=wb /> | starring = Romel Eduardo Ledezma Abaroa<br>Rafael Pacchiano Alamán<br>Hector Capetillo<br>Andrea Crosta<br>and others | music = H. Scott Salinas<ref name=wb>{{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 }}</ref> | cinematography = Richard Ladkani | editing = Georg Michael Fischer<br>Verena Schönauer<ref name=wb /> | studio = Terra Mater Factual Studios<ref name=ru>{{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}}</ref><br>Appian Way Productions<br>Malaika Pictures<br>The Wild Lens Collective | distributor = National Geographic Documentary Films<br>Fox Searchlight Pictures<ref>{{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}}</ref> (uncredited) | released = {{Film date|2019|1|27|Sundance|2019|09|20|Austria}} | runtime = 104 minutes<ref name=wb /> | country = Austria<ref name="wq">{{Cite web |date=13 July 2019 |title=Sea of Shadows |url=http://www.sundance.org/projects/sea-of-shadows |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713173917/http://www.sundance.org/projects/sea-of-shadows |archive-date=13 July 2019 |access-date=11 January 2026 |website=www.sundance.org}}</ref> | language = English<ref name="wq" /><br>Spanish<ref name="wq" /> | gross = $1,996 }}

'''''Sea of Shadows''''' is a 2019 Austrian 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".<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref name=wb /><ref>{{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."</ref><ref name=HR>{{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}}</ref> The 1 hour and 44 minutes long film is directed by Richard Ladkani.

==Production== Sea of Shadows was produced by Austrian company Terra Mater Factual Studios, in association with Leonardo DiCaprio, Appian Way, Malaika Pictures and Wild Lens Collective.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-02-08 |title=Review: Sea of Shadows |url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/367452/ |access-date=2026-01-11 |website=Cineuropa |language=en}}</ref>

== Reception ==

''Sea of Shadows'' premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jr |first=Mike Fleming |date=2019-02-04 |title=National Geographic Acquires Leonardo DiCaprio-Produced Sundance Audience Winner ‘Sea Of Shadows’ For $3 Million |url=https://deadline.com/2019/02/sea-of-shadows-national-geographic-three-million-dollar-sundance-deal-audience-award-winner-leonardo-dicaprio-1202549056/ |access-date=2026-01-11 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref> It was released in Austria on September 20, 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sea of Shadows |url=https://filminstitut.at/filme/sea-of-shadows |access-date=2026-01-11 |website=Österreichisches Filminstitut |language=de-DE}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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."</ref> ''The Hollywood Reporter'' wrote, "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."<ref name=HR />

== See also ==

* ''The Cove'' (film) ** ''Behind The Cove'', a documentary in response to the film * ''Blackfish'' (film) * ''The Whale'' (2011 film)

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== External links == * {{Official website|https://films.nationalgeographic.com/sea-of-shadows/#/}} * {{IMDb title|9326056}} * [https://www.RottenTomatoes.com/m/sea_of_shadows RottenTomatoes]

{{National Geographic Documentary Films}} {{Sundance Audience Award World Cinema Documentary}} {{Portal bar|Film|Austria|Mexico|Animals}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sea of Shadows}} Category:2019 documentary films Category:2019 films Category:2019 Austrian films Category:2019 in the environment Category:Austrian documentary films Category:Documentary films about Mexico Category:Environment of Mexico Category:Films about activists Category:Films about cetaceans Category:Films scored by H. Scott Salinas Category:National Geographic Society films Category:2019 Spanish-language films Category:2019 English-language films Category:English-language documentary films Category:Sundance Film Festival award–winning films Category:Documentary films about marine biology Category:Documentary films about mammals Category:Documentary films about environmental issues