The David and Goliath battle endured by small fishermen along the west coast feature in the major new documentary from an award-winning Galway filmmaker which hits Irish cinemas this weekend.
From the maker of The Pipe, Risteard Ó Domhnaill’s new film Atlantic explores the battle between coastal communities and worldwide resource mismanagement eating up Ireland’s oceans.
And to illustrate that, he focuses on the traditional fishermen, as they face up against oil majors and the planet’s largest fishing companies
Filmed over three years, the Rossaveal native and his Galway-based team document how independent fishermen from Ireland, Norway and Newfoundland struggle to break through growing restrictions while large international trawlers go unchecked.
“I never planned on actually doing this documentary, though I did want to explore the bigger picture,” Risteard told the Connacht Tribune.
“As I discovered more and more that our resources are simply handed away to major companies, I decided to try and get some context by visiting communities in Canada and Norway. I was amazed by how similar the communities were and how, like fishermen here in Ireland, they were so badly treated by their government.”
Having won Best Irish Documentary at the Dublin International Film Festival earlier this year, the feature-length film is tipped to become a multi-award winning piece.
Narrated by Emmy-winner Brendan Gleeson, coastal community members from Cork, Galway and Donegal tell of their struggles in some of the most remote and breathtaking locations by the North Atlantic.
See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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