Pedro Vidal - Cabrera
“This is the portrait of life on and around a fishing boat named Cabrera. Cabrera is a seine boat for sardine and the like. Her and her crew who go out every night, fishing at dawn, to bring in the morning the fish that thousands of people consume every day. (A seine boat is built in the carvel construction method. It is distinctive from a great many other similar sized boats which are generally of clinker construction owing to Norse and Scandinavian influence rather than the southern and western European style of boat building evident in the seine boat.)
It is a boat like any other and that is why it is so important, because it faithfully represents and reproduces the life of this class of workers, the fishermen. Much is said about eating healthy, conscious consumption, local and responsible production, benefits of consuming fish, etc., but little is recognized about the immense work behind these demands. Most people have no idea how the fish get out of the sea and onto their plates. The life of an independent fisherman, in a co-operative, owner of his own boat, as the "patron" of his sailors, of mechanics, "boatmen", "netfixers" is not easy. They change day for night to perform very hard work, spending more time at sea than on land.
Cabrera, the "patron" of the boat, is a fourth generation fishermen in his family, now without anyone to replace him. The youngest patrons are 45 or 50 years old and they are few, most are quite old. The pressure of the big international industries, the little incentive of the state and the lack of recognition mean that this profession is for a few and is consequently unattractive for the youngest.
This documentary is a tribute to all fishermen, to this entire class, who feed and has fed our society for centuries. Almost invisible, living in a world outside this bubble of offices and technology, here, now, more essential than ever. A very rich trace of our humanity and culture.”
