Director

Thymaya Payne

Cast list

Daniel Howden

The Somali People

Credits

Writer: Mark Monroe

Synopsis

The filmmakers have spent the past three years traveling to some of the world's most violent locales in order to make this documentary on Somali piracy, Stolen Seas. Utilizing exclusive interviews and unparalleled access to real pirates, hostages, hostages' relatives, ship-owners, pirate negotiators and experts on piracy and international policy, Stolen Seas presents a chilling exploration of the Somali pirate phenomenon. The film throws the viewer, through audio recordings and found video, right into the middle of the real-life hostage negotiation of a Danish shipping vessel, the CEC Future. As the haggling between the ship's stoic owner Per Gullestrup, and the pirate's loquacious negotiator, Ishmael Ali, drags on for 70 days, these two adversaries' relationship takes an unexpected turn and an unlikely friendship is born. Stolen Seas is an eye opening refutation of preconceived ideas on how or why piracy has become the world's most frightening multi-million dollar growth industry.

Reviews

Catsoulis, Jeannette. "Inside the Lives of Somali Pirates." The New York Times. The New York Times, 17 Jan. 2013. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

Mohney, Gillian. "Thymaya Payne's Seascape." Interview Magazine. Interview Magazine, 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

The documentary Stolen Seas has its own website and Facebook page.