Fish Eye

Synopsis

The Iranian fishing vessel "Parsian Shila" makes its routine trip with a crew of 35. The top positions, the Captain and the engineers, are manned by the 5 Iranian crewmembers. The rest are fishermen from two African countries, Ghana and Kenya.

Their life on the ship seems ordinary, almost trivial. They cook, clean, watch movies and make the necessary preparations for the job. They are, however, on a journey far away from land, the phone calls they make at the start of their trip are probably the last ones they would make for months ahead. The job itself is not easy: 12-15-hour shifts per day, living in 2-meter cabins and sharing all the other facilities, hard physical work all the while away from friends and family.

Success is far from guaranteed, the hunt for a proper school of fish takes a lot of time and eventually, they resolve to prayer. The Iranian crew members are happy to join.

When they finally catch up to a fish school of promising proportions, the real action begins: the net is thrown, and massive amounts of fish begin to pour into the ship’s insatiable belly. Numerous dying sea creatures are taking their last breath aboard this merciless giant with their gaze directed at the camera. For the crewmen, who spend a big portion of their life on the ship, even celebrating New-Year in the middle of the ocean, this is merely a job.

View Website