Screened under the Sea Blindness programme, FREIGHTENED: The Real Price of Shipping served as an introduction to some of the issues explored by the project.
90% of the goods we consume in the West are manufactured in far-off lands and brought to us by ship. The cargo shipping industry is a key actor in globalisation. Without it, it would be impossible to satisfy the ever-increasing demands of our societies. Yet the functioning and regulations of this armada of increasingly gigantic vessels and containers remain largely obscure to many, and its hidden costs affect us all. Due to their size, freight ships no longer fit in traditional city harbours; they have moved out of public scrutiny, behind barriers and checkpoints.
The film investigates issues such as the hidden powers and questionable business practices behind this multi-billion dollar industry; the control it exerts over policymakers; the impact that noise, dirty fuels, water ballasts and other sources of pollution have on ecosystems above and below the water line; the working conditions of modern seafarers, etc.
Denis Delestrac is a multi-award-winning director, writer and producer. He is best known for creating feature documentaries on highly topical subjects such as Pax Americana (2009), Sand Wars (2013) and Freightened (2016), which have earned him critical appraisal and recognition. One of Europe’s most acclaimed non-fiction directors, Delestrac has won over forty international awards, including a Gold Panda, two Greenpeace Prizes and a Canadian Academy Award. In 2001, after having worked in France (Le Monde) and in the United States as a writer and a photographer, Denis Delestrac switched careers to documentary filmmaking in India, where he met legendary photographer Steve McCurry, with whom he made his first short documentary.
Since then, he has directed nearly twenty films and series screened on television or in cinemas worldwide, which led him to open his own production company, Intrepido Films in 2007. Headquartered in Barcelona, the company specialises in creating international theatrical documentaries and brand content films. His latest theatrical films include The Shadow of Gold (2019) and McCurry: The Pursuit of Color (in theatres 2022), for which he teamed up again with McCurry. In May 2017, Delestrac was invited to become a member of the European Film Academy, to work – among others – alongside Wim Wenders, Claude Lelouch, Ridley Scott and Almodovar to promote European cinema in the world.
