Sharkwater: Extinction

This screening took place on Monday, October 29, 2018 at 6:30 pmYukon Arts Centre

Sharkwater Extinction is a thrilling reportage documentary that follows filmmaker Rob Stewart as he exposes the billion dollar illegal shark fin industry and the political corruption behind it. From West Africa, Spain, Panama, Costa Rica and France, to California, Stewart's third film dives into the often violent underworld of the pirate fishing trade. Sharkwater Extinction is a follow up to the critically acclaimed Sharkwater, Rob Stewart's first film. Shark finning is still rampant, shark fin soup is still being consumed, and endangered sharks are now also being used to make products for human consumption. Stewart's mission is to save the sharks and oceans before it's too late. "The globetrotting investigative documentary Sharkwater Extinction is an exposé on the brutally illegal shark-fin industry and an update of 2006’s Sharkwater. It’s also the late conservationist Rob Stewart’s final film. We watch as he and his team travel from Costa Rica to Cape Verde to the Bahamas to Panama and to the ocean right outside Los Angeles. Atrocities against sharks are secretly filmed, with ugly images interspersed with moments of exquisite underwater beauty. A species and an ecosystem are at peril, as was the Toronto filmmaker Stewart, who died in a diving accident during the filming. And so a gutsy film about a planet’s delicate balance takes on a poignant tone, with themes of mortality unavoidable." - Brad Wheeler, The Globe & Mail (3 out of 4 stars)