When a tidemark of poisoned crabs & lobsters devastate a small North East fishing town veteran fisherman Stan Rennie becomes the unlikeliest of activists. A wry David and Goliath story,told with gallows humour, about the grief of navigating a world which has suddenly, inexplicably changed forever.
For centuries, fisherman Stan Rennie and his family have worked the same stretch of the North East England’s coastline, where the river meets the sea. He knows the tides, the weather, the jokes. But when a vast tide of poisoned crabs & lobsters washes ashore like a biblical plague, Stan’s world is turned upside down overnight. Have the sins of the industrial past come back to haunt the present?
Dealing with the devastation of his business and his own failing health, he finds himself thrown into a battle for the future. As officials equivocate, he becomes the unlikely figurehead for a grassroots campaign - corralling salty, Brexit voting fisherman in a fight for answers - delivered in the only way he knows how, with heart and gallows humour.
A wry David and Goliath story, told with the spirit of Martin Parr, about the grief of navigating a world which has suddenly, inexplicably changed forever.
ALL RIVERS SPLL THEIR STORIES TO THE SEA - a film by Teessider Jeanie Finlay
Jeanie Finlay is one of Britain’s most distinctive documentary makers, creating award-winning work for cinema and television, telling intimate stories to international audiences. She has made films for HBO, IFC and four commissions for acclaimed BBC Storyville, including BIFA nominated The Great Hip Hop Hoax and BIFA winning Orion:The Man Who Would Be King. Whether inviting audiences to share the (extra)ordinary journey of a British transgender man, pregnant with his child (BIFA nominated Seahorse), behind the scenes of Teesside’s last record shop in her home-town (SOUND IT OUT), or onto the set of the world’s biggest television show (Emmy nominated Game Of Thrones: The Last Watch), all of Jeanie's films share an empathetic approach to bringing overlooked and untold stories to the screen. In 2023 a recipient of a prestigious Chicken & Egg award, recognising directors at advanced stages of their careers, poised to reach new heights. Her films were showcased in a retrospective at Museum of Moving Image, NYC, People Everyday: The Films of Jeanie Finlay, by True Story, UK, are held in the archive at the British Film Institute and are featured on the BFI Player, part of The Camera is Ours: Britain's Women Documentary Makers. Her. films are showcased on Criterion in a collection called People Person: Documentaries by Jeanie Finlay. Jeanie was awarded an honorary Doctorate by her alma mater Nottingham Trent University in recognition of her contribution to filmmaking.
Premiere Available
Chicken & Egg Pictures 2023 - Award Recipient
BFI Doc Society 2023 - Production Award
Director - Jeanie Finlay
Producer - Jeanie Finlay
Producer - Charlie Phillips
Editor - Nicole Halova
Executive Producer - Julie Parker Benello
