Coming up at Telluride’s five-star Wilkinson Public Library
Monday, May 3: Free film, "Pirate for the Sea," 6 p.m.
A longtime militant environmentalist is held up for close scrutiny in "Pirate for the Sea," a homemade-style documentary in which filmmaker Ron Colby's admiring stance doesn't shroud the downside of the subject's relentless approach. A self-appointed maverick watchdog for mistreated and illegally hunted sea creatures, Paul Watson uses confrontational tactics that could be classified as terrorism, which, along with bloody footage of whales, sharks, and baby seals being slaughtered, makes for some disturbing viewing. Just released on DVD, we are screening this film with special permission of the director, Ron Colby.
After eight years, Colby completed his film only one week before the 2008 Telluride Film Festival opened. To make "Pirate for the Sea," he participated as a crew member on Watson's voyages to Cocos Island in 2002, Antarctica in 2005, and to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2006. The film includes interviews with Martin Sheen, and Farley Mowat in addition to numerous crew-members.