Film/ Africa
Fishers of Dar
A film on fisheries in Tanzania by Lina Fruzzetti, Akos Ostor and Stephen Ross
Fishers of Dar explores the continuity and integrity of traditional fishing practices in contemporary Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Dar es Salaam is a metropolis of three million people, yet the city’s demand for fish is entirely met by equipment and methods practiced there for centuries.
The film takes the viewer to the city harbour’s pier and fish market and to a small fishing community nearby. The film shows the hundreds of people who make a living in the process, before the fish reaches the customer. The story begins before dawn, with small sailboats and bigger diesel-powered boats leaving for fishing grounds. We see fishermen and women, boat builders, boat crews, auctioneers, labourers and vendors. Not least are the women who come with buckets, buy and clean small fish and go home by bus to sell fried fish in the hundreds of smaller markets of the city. Recently the market was demolished to provide for expansion of the harbour. The age old process continues but under difficult new conditions. 37 min. Sale $250. For more information see:
