Of Fish and Foe (12A)***
Dirs: Heike Bachelier, Andy Heathcote
Runtime: 92 minutes
THE best documentaries are those that have the viewer walk in to the theatre with a set of assumptions and walk out with them challenged. Of Fish and Foe tells the story of the Pullar family, who net fish for wild Atlantic salmon off the north east coast. The nets are a magnet for seals and sea birds, and the efforts to deal with those, including shooting the seals, has brought the family into conflict with animal rights activists.
Directors Heike Bachelier and Andy Heathcote (who helmed the highly regarded The Moo Man) get between the two sides just as the protesters position themselves between the seals and the guns. While some of the family do themselves no favours at times, this is no straightforward case of saints and sinners. Tense, provocative but impressively balanced, Of Fish and Foe shows green issues are not always black and white.
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