DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Sicily is the home of my wife and her family, who welcomed me with open arms to its shores. The island’s rich stories and local legends sparked my imagination. When I learned of the region’s swordfish fishing culture, I was compelled to explore further. Through the network of friends and family, we were introduced to Nino Arena and his son Luca. This documentary is built on trust—a reminder of the old notion that a handshake is your word. This documentary captures the timeless ways of a village that has preserved its identity across generations, standing firm against the currents of change. It is a story of tradition, of how the past continues to shape the present in a world that moves ever forward.
ABOUT THE FILM
ABOUT
The Greek historian Polybius was among the first to chronicle the fishing of sword-fish in the Strait of Messina, in south Italy. In Polybius’s telling, after offering homage to the sea god Poseidon, two men set out in a small boat painted to resemble a swordfish. One man would row, while the other produced an arpione, a harpoon with a detachable metal head. When a swordfish was sighted, the oarsman would maneuver the boat as close to the fish as possible, and the second man would strike it with the harpoon. If the strike was successful, the men, using a long line, could control the fish until it ceased to struggle, then haul it to land for feast.
More than 2,000 years later, fishing for swordfish in the Strait of Messina endures. Luca Arena is the last of a long line of fishermen in his family and his dream is to spend his life on the sea. His father Nino is a village legend and is the captain of the family boat, a large wooden vessel that resembles their prey, swordfish. In some ways, this unique way of fishing and the quaint fishing town of Ganzirri where they live, has changed very little.
Except today, Nino’s love for his son Luca surpasses the village traditions as he guides his son towards a new heading. SONS OF THE SEA is an intimate portrait of a father and son and how modern times have strained the heart of this tradition and the legacy of one family.
The creative look and feel of the set was inspired by different color crayons in a box. It matched Coty's current company brand identity and ethos. We worked together with our set designers to create a forest of different color expressions, wrapping seamless backdrop paper around cylinders we spotted in a hardware store. The use of seamless was inspired by using organic materials, keeping the materials recyclable and also having the option to rig it up easily.
