Requiem

Alex Godfrey

Bermuda has always been associated with disappearances. But those were just modern myths. This is the true story of the disappearance of Bermuda's sharks. On our journey to find out where they've gone we meet those that swam with them, those that fished them and those that study them. But to see one for ourselves, we have to search for them in their habitat, when they are most likely to be active...night. This is the first film I ever made. I produced, filmed and edited this film as part of my masters in wildlife filmmaking. I wanted to make a film based on the island where I grew up and about a cause that meant a lot to me. I grew up around the ocean and love sharks so it was heartbreaking to hear how many sharks there used to be in Bermuda. The film highlights a local example of a global problem, and while I was restricted to making a short film for my course, I would love to continue work and produce a longer feature on the plight of sharks. I liked the idea of night diving in the film. I have been night diving many times before and I love how the reef transforms into an alien landscape with divers casting their lights around in the dark. Most night dive footage I had seen before was macro stuff blasted with light and so I wanted to try and capture it differently, with wide shots embracing the dark and capturing the searching beams of light moving across the reef. I am really happy Requiem was accepted to this, and other festivals, as I would like as many people as possible to see it and be curious about sharks and understand the issue with overfishing.