Synopsis:  A looming disaster in one of the most spectacular environments on Earth sparks a rescue mission unlike any other in Sea of Shadows, a riveting new documentary with the intensity of a Hollywood thriller. When Mexican drug cartels and Chinese traffickers join forces to poach the rare totoaba fish in the Sea of Cortez, their deadly methods threaten to destroy virtually all marine life in the region, including the most elusive and endangered whale species on Earth known as the vaquita porpoise. But a team of brilliant scientists, high-tech conservationists, investigative journalists and courageous undercover agents as well as the Mexican Navy put their lives on the line to save the last remaining vaquita and bring the vicious international crime syndicate to justice.

In 2017, my wife Anita Ladkani and I were developing some new film ideas for TERRA MATER Factual Studios. When Andrea Crosta, director of Elephant Action League, told us about a key investigation on the illegal totoaba trade he had been working on, we were immediately intrigued. This was also the first time I heard about the vaquita, a tiny porpoise facing imminent extinction in the Gulf of California. But my initial excitement quickly faded once I realized how dire the situation was: The numbers of remaining vaquitas were plummeting so fast that I thought it would be impossible to finance a film on the subject, much less produce it, before they were all extinct.

Crosta also introduced me to the team of the Wild Lens Collective, a non-profit film production company that had been focusing on the plight of the vaquita for more than three years. A lengthy conversation with Matthew Podolsky and Sean Bogle helped me understand the complexity of the issue and also made it clear that we would face real and menacing challenges if we went ahead with the project.

Then I heard about the VaquitaCPR mission, a cunning plan to capture and resettle all remaining vaquitas in a safe sanctuary, scheduled for October of that year. The project sounded amazing, but again, timing was so tight, it seemed there was no way we could pull this off with only months to go before the operation was set to launch.

That all changed when Leonardo DiCaprio’s company, Appian Way Productions, stepped in. Following our successful collaboration on The Ivory Game, Appian Way approached Walter Köhler, founder of TERRA MATER, and myself about doing a film on the rescue mission. DiCaprio was supporting VaquitaCPR and offered to open doors for us, providing exclusive access to the capture and rescue boats. This combined with the inside knowledge Wild Lens and Elephant Action League could provide convinced us to immediately move forward. It was the beginning of a collaboration and adventure that would turn out to be the most dangerous project I had ever been involved in.

Then Appian Way executive producer Philipp Watson introduced me to Carlos Loret de Mola, an investigative journalist from Mexico City who had been following the situation for many months and knew more about the drug cartels involved in the trade than anyone else. He got my immediate attention when he mentioned how he had exposed the government officials involved in El Chapo’s second escape from prison a few years back. Carlos was fearless, very direct, and eventually allowed us to become a fly on the wall during his investigation into the Sinaloa cartel, which was behind the trafficking of the so-called “cocaine of the sea,” the totoaba swim bladder. The more I understood the stakes and the risks we were going to have to take the clearer it became that we would need bodyguards and local support on the ground to get through this production in one piece.

The Wild Lens team also introduced me to the fishing community, especially one particular family in San Felipe that had been supporting the rescue of vaquita for years. Javier and Alan Valverde opened up to us and allowed us to view the issue from their perspective: how they suffered under the threat of the cartels, but also from the lack of government support for the local fishermen. Their story became an important pillar in the film as this crisis can only be solved if the people depending on a healthy sea are not overlooked.

As production began, we put all of our energy behind the VaquitaCPR rescue mission, which involved more than 90 scientists from around the world. The biggest challenge for the CPR team, led by Program Manager Dr. Cynthia Smith and vaquita expert Dr. Lorenzo Rojas- Bracho, was simply finding the porpoises, which are among the most elusive marine mammals on earth. Our challenge as a film team was to be on the right boat at the right time in order to document a possible capture, if one were to take place. We used drones, various camera teams and more than a half dozen Go Pros just to stay close to the action.

In a parallel effort, we followed the ongoing undercover investigation of Elephant Action League’s investigation into the Chinese mafia in Tijuana and their collaboration with the Mexican drug cartels when trafficking totoaba. The closer we got to the bad guys, the more difficult it became for us to remain unnoticed. Although this involved complex logistics, a security detail and filmmaking skills, it was nothing we couldn’t properly plan and prepare for.

But then a dramatic turn of events changed everything, and we suddenly realized the film was not just going to be about rescuing the vaquita, but about saving the entire Sea of Cortez. The vaquita became a symbol for all of the marine life in the area. Things got a lot more intense as the Mexican Navy became involved in a big way, working in close collaboration with the NGO Sea Shepherd, which had been pulling illegal totoaba nets in the area for years.

We soon met one of Sea Shepherd's key drone pilots, Jack Hutton, who used thermal imagery to locate poaching vessels that the navy could then attempt to intercept and arrest. But things started to spin increasingly out of control, culminating in violent protests, riots, high-speed boat chases and us as a team being directly threatened by the cartel.

With production finally completed and all of us having risked more than we ever had, I had to remind myself why I want to keep making these movies.

My goal as a director is to try to have a lasting impact on our world by focusing on issues that threaten our natural environment.

My previous film, The Ivory Game, about the threat of elephant extinction, helped bring about real change in China. The government banned the trade of ivory just two months after the film was released on Netflix, and invited us to open the Beijing International Film Festival, where the film won Best International Feature Documentary.

This motivated me to take on new pressing topics, such as this one. What is happening in Mexico is yet another example of human-caused devastation due to the greed of a few. By illuminating the problem through cinematic and compelling storytelling while offering solutions and captivating heroes with a cause, I hope to help save this precious ecosystem, which is on the verge of total collapse. I believe each one of us has the ability to be part of the solution. I try to use my skills as a filmmaker to inspire audiences to never give up on our planet and help bring change toward a better and brighter future.

— Richard Ladkani, Director