An Ocean Story (2019)

Directed by: Sander van Weert | 70 minutes | documentary

‘An Ocean Story’ doesn’t start very cheerfully. The first part of the film is mainly a confrontational enumeration of the main problems that plague the world’s seas. Plastic litter is now popping up all over the world and suffocating marine life. Corals bleach and eventually die off en masse due to higher water temperatures and the acidification of the oceans. And then there’s the overfishing, which is making large and maturing fish increasingly rare. The common denominator of all these problems is that they are due to the behavior of humans, a species that has become a scourge to the planet because of its boundless desire for dominance, wealth and convenience.

In the continuation of the documentary, we see how filmmaker Sander van Weert, marine biologist Nanne van Hoytema and Thomas van Thiel, founder of By the Ocean we Unite, visit the World Ocean Summit 2018 in Mexico. At this summit, leaders from politics, conservation and business meet to find solutions for the loss of the world’s oceans. Whereas in many other documentaries of this type, multinationals are portrayed (not always completely unjustly) as the villains who are primarily responsible for all ecological misery in the world, ‘An Ocean Story’ shows convincingly that large companies also have the potential to be a part of the to form a remedy. For example, we learn that bar giant Mars also owns cat food brands like Sheba and Whiskas. As a result, the company also benefits from a good fish stock. The company contributes to a healthier ecosystem in Mexico by building artificial coral reefs (living coral that grows on spider-shaped metal skeletons) on a large scale. Or take Dopper, a Dutch company that has designed reusable drinking bottles to ensure that the enormous mountain of disposable plastic bottles does not expand much further.

‘An Ocean Story’ does not only contain various interviews with participants of the World Ocean Summit. The film also focuses on initiatives taken by residents of the Riviera Maya region (where the summit was held) to protect and clean up their living environment. We meet a Mexican couple who have a recycling company at home, a hotel owner who manages real ‘coral nurseries’ and conservationists who are committed to preserving the valuable mangrove forests along the Mexican coast. These scenes are interspersed with beautiful images of a wide range of sea dwellers. Think sharks, sea turtles, rays and the many colorful organisms (fish, lobsters, shrimp, starfish and more) that depend on healthy coral reefs. The recordings are beautiful, but at the same time sad within the context provided; you know that all that underwater beauty is under heavy pressure and is even in danger of being largely lost in the future.

To avoid total apathy among the viewers, Van Weert ends his film on a more positive note. A playfully designed list of behavioral tips shows that by adopting a sustainable consumption pattern we can all make a difference. Anyone can become a pacifist fighter for the environment (‘eco-warrior’).

Due to its narrative form (first sketching the seriousness of the problem and then showing the possible solutions in a somewhat simplified way) and short length of just under seventy minutes, ‘An Ocean Story’ is more of a powerful pamphlet than a documentary that really goes into depth. Great as a starting point for those who are not really familiar with the matter yet, but a bit too superficial for people who have already thoroughly studied the threats to global marine life.