River Monsters Presents: Killer Catfish Extended Cut

Nanook of the North

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

Thunfisch - Der bedrohte Jäger

Tuna are among the top predators in the oceans. But the hunter is also the hunted: many species are overfished. Can we use the riches of the oceans without destroying them?

HAND. LINE. COD.

In the coldest waters surrounding Newfoundland's rugged Fogo Island, "people of the fish"—traditional fishers—catch cod live by hand, one at a time, by hook and line. After a 20-year moratorium on North Atlantic cod, the stocks are returning. These fishers are leading a revolution in sustainability, taking their premium product directly to the commercial market for the first time. Travel with them from the early morning hours, spend time on the ocean, and witness the intricacies of a 500-year-old tradition that's making a comeback.

The Pearl Fishers

Documentary about Japanese pearl fishers.

No Otter Zone

The Southern Sea Otter was historically abundant along the California coastline until intense hunting pressures reduced their numbers to near-extinction levels. But now the otters are coming back, and with them they bring the potential for drastic change to the modern-day economics and ecology of the Santa Barbara Channel.

L'antimiracolo

Cries from the Deep

This documentary records the journey undertaken by Jacques Cousteau, his 24-member team, and an NFB film crew to explore the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, one of the world's richest fishing areas. They discover shipwrecks, film icebergs and observe beluga whales, humpback whales and harp seals. The film also includes a fascinating sequence showing Calypso divers freeing a calf whale entrapped in a fishing net.

Violated Paradise

A modern geisha travels through Japan trying to find a job as entertainer, and ends up by finding love and a job as ama, a pearl diver.

Nachtwake

To the Sea

Before leaving for Rome with his mother, five year old Natan is taken by his father, Jorge, on an epic journey to the pristine Chinchorro reef off the coast of Mexico. As they fish, swim, and sail the turquoise waters of the open sea, Natan discovers the beauty of his Mayan heritage and learns to live in harmony with life above and below the surface, as the bond between father and son grows stronger before their inevitable farewell.

Against the Tide

Two friends, both Indigenous fishermen, are driven to desperation by a dying sea. Their friendship begins to fracture as they take very different paths to provide for their struggling families.

Fullsterkur

FULLSTERKUR is the third documentary in a collection of films produced by Rogue Fitness, exploring strength culture around the world, connected specifically by the ancient tradition of stone lifting. Nestled at the doorstep of the Arctic Circle, the country of Iceland is uniquely acquainted with the relationship between strength and survival. For hundreds of years, men and women were challenged to overcome harsh weather and endless winter nights by developing their own distinct physical and mental fortitude—passed down from the age of the Vikings, and iconically represented by the lifting of heavy stones. Today, on an island with a population of just over 300,000, a disproportionate number of the world’s greatest strength athletes still call Iceland home.

Until the End of the World

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, along with other international organizations, is leading efforts to increase aquaculture by encouraging countries around the world to invest in its development. However, local communities strongly oppose the expansion of fish farms due to resource depletion and water pollution concerns. From Italy to Greece, Spain to Senegal, and all the way to Patagonia in Chile, their journey to uncover the truth extends to the ends of the earth.

Tarpon

The first of the modern fishing films, shot in the wild panorama of 1970s Key West. Colorful scenes of Key West from another era - with treasure hunters, smugglers, hippies and eccentrics - are background to stunning cinematography and tarpon fishing at its finest. Authors, Richard Brautigan, Tom McGuane and Jim Harrison join with legendary flats guides, Woody Sexton, Gil Drake and Steve Huff.

Seafighters

Living among the percebeiros of the Coast of Death (Galicia), this documentary shows a unique relationship between man and his surroundings, man and the sea. At the end of Europe, years after the Prestige oil spill disaster, these fishermen face an uncertain future.

Women on the Water

A documentary film from New Hampshire Sea Grant following the stories of women in New Hampshire's traditionally male-dominated seafood and aquaculture industries, why they chose to work on the water, the challenges they face, and the reasons they've stayed.

Turning Tides

In this documentary short, summer trippers line up for the famous local fried clams and whole families dig for the white mollusc in the tangy air of the sandbars. But as the clams dwindle, so do these tableaux from Maritime culture. For commercial fishermen it's the end of a livelihood; for others, it's the death of a tradition. Can this really be the end of a resource that used to be as plentiful as the air we breathe?

Loki Pete

With a blend of poignant flashbacks and present-day reflections, the film follows Pete on his 50th and final season fishing for salmon in Southeast Alaska. With day-in-the-life scenes on his fishing vessel, Njord, he emphasizes the critical need for ethical fishing practices, grassroots political organizing, and direct consumer relationships to thrive in an increasingly challenging economy. Featuring powerful moments from the 2001 battle to protect Seattle’s Fisherman’s Terminal for working vessels, this documentary not only showcases the fight for economic survival but also underscores the personal and collective resilience that sustains small family businesses in the face of adversity.

Gegen Wind und Wellen - Auf Fangfahrt mit den deutschen Seelachsfischern

The job of a deep-sea fisherman is still extremely dangerous today. Waves, storms, physical work and hardly any sleep - the stress levels are high, even though the ships are now ultra-modern. Fishing far out at sea requires experience and luck. The weather can change within minutes and this also applies to fish prices, which vary greatly depending on the catch. It quickly becomes a race against time and the forces of nature.