Ghost Fleet

Thailand’s $6.5 billion seafood industry has led to a crisis, destroying the fish beds along its coast and devastating the ecosystems. To meet their quotas, commercial fishing boats are pushing ever further out to sea, now traveling thousands of miles. The environmental crisis has precipitated a humanitarian one: thousands of young Thai and Burmese men are kidnapped and forced to work as slaves in often deadly conditions. Codirectors Shannon Service and Jeffrey Waldron tell this agonizing story from the point of view of a determined middle-aged human rights worker, Patima Tungpuchayakul who makes an arduous, heroic journey from Bangkok to tiny islands off the coast of Indonesia, searching for those few who have managed to escape slavery and may or may not be able to return home. Ghost Fleet is both a memorable voyage and a crystal-clear call to action. (Telluride Film Festival)