HAENYEO WISDOM OF THE SEA

NatGeo Channel | TV Cultura
Documentary - 64'

The award winner Brazilian photographer Luciano Candisani embarks in a new journey, interested by the story of a group of women who take their living from the sea. He will cross the world to portrait the story of the daily work of these heroines and bring awareness to a vital necessity of modern times: sustainability.

Candisani leaves to an island in South Korea called Jeju, where he meets the Haenyeos, the women from the sea. These brave women follow a century tradition: they dive in the sea in order to harvest marine goods. This is how they make money to raise their children and support their families, without causing any damage to the environment. Candisani dives with them and face this arduous physical task, once the Haenyeos, despite their advanced ages, spend up to five hours in the sea.

In Jeju, he also gets to know the local culture and discovers curiosities about a very traditional community that is in risky to disappear: the new generations aren´t likely to follow their mother´s profession and the Haenyeos may be extinguished sooner or later, the reason why they are now recognized as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

In this expedition, Candisani searches for an unique creative motivation and seeks to reveal through his lenses this amazing story of cultural preservation and environmental responsibility.