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.