A brotherly bond on the sea is tested by tradition, family, global warming and changing ways in Sarvnik Kaur’s absorbing and beautifully shot documentary Against The Tide, which premiered at Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Competition. Two good friends, a pair of indigenous Koli fishermen in Bombay, find themselves on different sides of the increasingly desperate debate as to how best to fish within a sea that no longer offers up catches in abundance.
On paper this sounds like a familiar story, but this immersive and compassionate film keeps returning to the depth of a friendship that just about keeps the two men bonded, despite wildly differing attitudes to how they should ply their trade. It is a simple format and structure, but somehow it achieves a deeper resonance as money, family pressure and a changing sea conspire against them.
Fishermen Rakesh and Ganesh are both inheritors of the ancient Koli knowledge system – a traditional way to harvest the sea by following the moon and the tides. But while Rakesh still believes in the traditional methods, using a small boat he inherited from his father, his good friend Ganesh has obtained a degree in finance in Scotland and has returned to Bombay with grander plans.
The film opens with a chant of “A Koli knows no fear” before cutting to Rakesh heading out to fish in his small boat. Footage of him with his family – his mother, wife Devyani and their newborn son – feels joyous and warm. Ganesh arrives for an event to celebrate the birth, and after a few drinks he suggests that if he gets a good catch from his boat that has been fishing in deep waters for days that they should go to Scotland. Rakesh is less than enthusiastic.
Ganesh has boats equipped with advanced technology and goes deep-sea fishing while Rakesh sticks to shallower waters. But both men find themselves challenged by a sea that yields fewer fish, more fishing boats from other countries in their waters, nets clogged with plastic and other detritus, and monsoons making fishing increasingly challenging.
Money worries also soon start to also haunt both men. While Ganesh and his wife Manali expect their first child, borrowing to keep the business afloat becomes more and more troublesome. At the same time Rakesh and Devyani have to spend costly time and money in hospitals as their son suffers from a heart condition.
The film is punctuated with moments when the two men meet – often at night to share a beer and some food – and talk about fishing and their futures. In one sequence Ganesh shows his friend footage of his boat and nets on his mobile phone. Rakesh asks him if he is thinking about using the (illegal) system of using LED lights to attract fish at night, adding: “Don’t do it in my sea…you’re kicking me in the stomach.”
Ganesh replies: ”Traditional Kolis are jealous because modern Kolis catch more fish with LED….it’s pointless to be jealous. Can you catch tuna, mackerel, Indian salmon in shallow sea? No…then why such resistance?”
Rakesh complains that deep-sea fishing has damaged the balance of the sea and has also affected his own catch. Ganesh replies that his complaints are baseless and that he should blame climate change, untimely cyclones, but not his friend.
With atmospheric music and some striking camerawork (particularly scenes of rubbish floating on the sea’s surface) the film does a powerful job in detailing a disturbing and changing world, but what really gives Against The Tide its emotional impact is the warm relationship between the two men. They may hold differing views, but are bonded by friendship and the need to work sea. Money worries may haunt them, but as Rakesh’s mother matter-of-factly says at one point: “A fisherman’s life is all about credit.”
India-France, 2023, 94mins
Dir: Sarvnik Kaur
Production: Snooker Club Films, A Little Anarky Films, Les Films de L’oeil Sauvage
US sales: Submarine Entertainment
International sales: Deckert Distribution
Producers: Koval Bhatia, Sarvnik Kaur
Cinematography: Ashok Meena
Editors: Atanas Georgiev, Blagoja Nedelkovski
Music: Igor Vasilev Novogradska
With: Ganesh Nakhawa, Manali Deepak Nakhawa, Rakesh Koli, Devyani Koli, Bhani Vasudev Koli
