The Last of the Sea Women
The Last of the Sea Women
“The Last of the Sea Women”, a documentary by Sue Kim begins with a single narrator, a woman who is preparing to dive into the sea in order to collect seafood as her march. However, as the camera zooms out, it is evident that the ocean waves are actually composed of women clad in wetsuits. These women reside on the South Korean plain of Jeju Island where they are employed as haenyeo, a great number of traditional women faborwho dive without oxygen tanks or rather say they inhale ‘their own breath’.
Another narrator proclaims, “This is a job you pour your heart into. Passed down from our mothers and grandmothers. Even when it’s cold or we don’t feel like diving, we still dive. It’s in our bones. We are women, after all.” Without doubt, the women of this island have scoured the seabed for Urchin and conch for past centuries. Fly Nation reports that it was once 30,000 women in harvesting sea vegetables. There are only approximately 4 000 women who practice this form of fishing, UNESCO included the ancestral art into its Intangible Cultural Heritage List in the year 2016. “It’s like our culture is melting away,” shares another woman.
Nmare, most of the haenyeo’s exposed now, are broad in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. These grannies, we now call grannies have been attending to this job for decades and are true professionals in the trade.
At first in the film, we are introduced to a couple of these older women who have practiced the profession of haenyeo their entire lives. To become one, they have to undergo training for a period of 10 long years, commencing as early as age seven. This practice is now regarded as an essential aspect of Korean culture, although a different view was held towards it in the past. Several women have also reported contempt for the work they did. Sadly, however, only a few young women tend the sea although they are socioculturally compensated.
For instance, Sohee Jin and Jeongmin Woo, both in their thirties, post videos of their job on YouTube and TikTok. Like many of the older people they know, they got into this job despite its hardships as it pays well and gives them does give them financial independence. After quitting a stress-inducing corporate position, Jin explained her joy associated with outdoor work, saying: “It’s what comforts me.” After her husband’s firm went out of business, Woo had to find a job and said that this is quite rare in South Korea for a working mother as the only flexible work.
In addition to beautiful underwater views, Yannick’s film has no other spectacular factors which makes it slightly more self-destructively focused. While at home and on the land, she employs uncomplicated filming techniques to document their daily activities and utilizes a straightforward style of interviews-in front of the camera which was meant to be quick and easy. Probably, this decision helps to hear the touching speech of these women who defend their cause, expressing their strong belief that they can make a positive contribution to our world.
The lives of all of these women do not face only the problem of the small amount of younger people joining their forces. Other menacing factors have appeared in the regions that have been freshly opened: lorries full of waste have started to fill the waters with trash.
The women are required to go deeper into the ocean as the work increases in scope. It will not be long before it is necessary for people to respirate under water using oxygen tubes to accomplish the task, which worries many people about the future of the fisheries. Social media platforms were also used by Jin and Woo to assert these transformations. To motivate the rest of the population to be concerned about their common future as well as the future of their environment. Nevertheless, the documentary offers some hope as the women retain their sense of humor and resilience as a community and stewards of this sacred practice. That is until more terrible news comes out threatening the haenyeos’ life, and potentially everyone living on the island.
Along the sea borders of Jeju Island lies Japan who is going to pour radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear meltdown – an incident that happened many years back. The Japanese government is adhering to international norms, but it is oppositional nuclear and environmental groups which believe that such a scenario which takes around 30 years to complete will ruin the ocean and its inhabitants for hundreds or even thousands of years.
The haenyeo come out in great numbers to protest for their rights and the interests of the sea, but the film does not end with a neat conclusion. Soon Deok Jang, one of the elder women, went to Switzerland to present their case to the Human Rights Council. She confidently and resolutely verbalizes her faith. But surely not all of the people’s courts, which profess to represent the will of the international community, are their last hope.
“Where there is sea, there will always be haenyeo”, Jin claims. Let us hope that there will therefore be a sea for a long time. These women are certain that this is so. There appears to be some faith with Kim as well, as she concludes her documentary with scenes from an annual festival celebrating the haenyeo. Me? I’m not that confident.
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- Genre: Documentary
- Country: United States
- Director: Sue Kim
- Cast: