Freetown | 24th March 2023 | Vertex Media
After its previous successful screenings abroad few months ago, THE NEW BOATS documentary film is set for another premiere at the first-ever Sierra Leone Environment Film Summit (SLEFS), scheduled for March 31st, 2023 at the Freetown City Council auditorium. The summit (SLEFS23) will be presented by the Freetown Media Center in collaboration with Generation Africa – which is envisaged to be a movement to safeguard the fishing ecosystem.
“Our goal is to inspire change and action by showcasing compelling documentary films that highlight the need to protect our planet,”
Lansana Mansaray (Barmmy Boi), Director of The New Boats.
The New Boats is an investigative documentary that presents an eye opening look at the impact of International Industrialized fishing in West African waters and it’s disastrous effect on local communities.
The film follows the activities of big international (foreign) fishing vessels using the most destructive methods of fishing, both breaking international law and destroying fish breeding grounds. The New Boats accounts for how local communities struggle for their livelihood and also attempt to hold accountable these influxing boats for their actions and and preserve not just an important cultural symbol of Sierra Leone, but a critical food source that the country and region depends upon.
The New Boats docu will also be showing at the International Ocean Film Festival in San Francisco and at the Africa Center in New York, in April 2023. All thanks to the magnificent work of Barmmy Boi, a leading Sierra Leonean digital storyteller, an Emmy nominee for his 2019 masterpiece, ‘Survivors’.
By Ibrahim Sorious Samura
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