It was a pleasure to see this Bajau village again in the film, having been there in 2008 with a Dutch woman who lived on a nearby island and was largely responsible for the new school. The visuals and photography here are stunning.
However, the narration could have been far more informative and detailed. In such a short film, a little research goes a long way, and it would have been much more satisfying to hear balanced commentary rather than flowery language by the narrator. The history and culture of the lovely Bajau people are fascinating. Their fishing practices, though traditionally sustainable and better than mass commercial fishing, have not always remained sustainable. At the time I was there, they were harvesting sand from nearby beaches to sell to construction companies, which led to sedimentation, suffocating the coral. Hopefully the blasting of coral has stopped.
I'm certainly not saying that most of the problems with the sea are the Bajau's fault, as they are not. Just trying to point out that this is not really a documentary showing balanced information. Most of the film consisted of only one man giving his perspective, with some gorgeous visuals of the village life and free divers. It would have been helpful to film an excursion in one of the fishing boats, and explanations of exactly how they fish, as that's what the topic of their sustainability seemed to be based on. Or to give details on the extraordinary free diving and spear fishing, as that"s what was shown in the film
However, the narration could have been far more informative and detailed. In such a short film, a little research goes a long way, and it would have been much more satisfying to hear balanced commentary rather than flowery language by the narrator. The history and culture of the lovely Bajau people are fascinating. Their fishing practices, though traditionally sustainable and better than mass commercial fishing, have not always remained sustainable. At the time I was there, they were harvesting sand from nearby beaches to sell to construction companies, which led to sedimentation, suffocating the coral. Hopefully the blasting of coral has stopped.
I'm certainly not saying that most of the problems with the sea are the Bajau's fault, as they are not. Just trying to point out that this is not really a documentary showing balanced information. Most of the film consisted of only one man giving his perspective, with some gorgeous visuals of the village life and free divers. It would have been helpful to film an excursion in one of the fishing boats, and explanations of exactly how they fish, as that's what the topic of their sustainability seemed to be based on. Or to give details on the extraordinary free diving and spear fishing, as that"s what was shown in the film