LEVIATHAN World Cinema

Emerging from inky darkness, we join the writhing life that is nighttime on a commercial fishing boat. With uncanny intimacy, LEVIATHAN propels the viewer into the rhythmic horrors of the sea and the men who live in it. Cameras are flung into the water, mingle with fish guts, and are carried lovingly by the fishermen themselves. Evocative and ephemeral, LEVIATHAN is similar to co-director Lucien Castaing-Taylor’s previous work SWEETGRASS (AFI FEST 2009), pushing the boundaries of traditional nature documentary filmmaking. The images and rhythms of life at sea form a cinematic experience that is far more than the sum of its parts. As the credits roll, the names of each genus and species of fish and fowl are presented alongside the names of the human collaborators, signifying that the collective behind LEVIATHAN is as diverse and disparate as the sea itself.