SYNOPSIS                                                                                             

Despite his wife’s disapproval, Hector bides his time as a deep-sea diver to provide for his family and to save for his own fishing boat. But after an accident at sea, Hector is forced to confront the deadly nature of his profession and the responsibilities to his family.

Shot on location in the coastal towns of Baja Mexico, CONTRA EL MAR (AGAINST THE SEA) is a portrait of a young marriage struggling to find common ground amid hardship and uncertainty.

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT                                                           

In late 2006, my assistant director, Camilo Salazar Prince, and myself spent several grueling months shooting a film in Tijuana, Mexico. After weeks of location scouting and exploring the area, we befriended a group of sea urchin divers living in a coastal village just south of Rosarito. Their way of life fascinated the two of us and we quickly incorporated them into our project.

In between filming, the divers shared stories, introduced their families and gradually opened their lives to us. Despite my broken Spanish, I was still able to connect and communicate. I felt a sense of kinship amongst them; mostly due to the fact that my mother was raised in the same region of Mexico.

After weeks of observing and working alongside the divers, I began piecing together the story that would eventually become CONTRA EL MAR. In 2008, Camilo and I were accepted into UCLA’s graduate directing program, and I began reworking the story into a screenplay. And in 2010 we returned to Rosarito to begin production on CONTRA EL MAR.

Over the past five years, the film has gone through many drafts and revisions; but it is the story of a young couple desperately searching for permanence and stability that remained it’s driving force. My hope is for the audience to feel the same kinship with these characters as I did when I first met them years ago.

- Richard Parkin

INFO                                                                                                      

USA/Mexico•19 min.•Color/B&W•1:85 Aspect•Spanish with English Subtitles