NFB Collection
The Voyage of the 7 Girls
20011 h 13 min 26 secFilm: Documentary
Direction: John Brett
Production: Kent MartinJohn Brett (Brett Films)Joan MacKinnon
Script: John Brett
Produced by Brett Films in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada and in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, with the participation of the Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation, the Nova Scotia Arts Council, the Fundy Communications Production Fund, and with the assistance of the Canadian Audio Visual Certification Office and the Nova Scotia Film Industry Tax Credit.
Fishing the treacherous North Atlantic is everything a modern job tries not to be: it's brutal, dangerous and gruelling. Family and friends are left behind for weeks at a time. In The Voyage of the 7 Girls filmmaker John Brett joins skippers Wes and Marty Henneberry on four voyages aboard their 32-metre longliner - the 7 Girls - for an up-close look at the extreme demands of a job that tests body and soul.
The Henneberry family of Sambro, Nova Scotia, has been fishing for generations. Today, brothers Marty and Wes are at the helm, pursuing giant tuna, swordfish and halibut. The 7 Girls can set out 80 kilometres of gear (over 1,500 hooks!) and has been known to haul in $295,000 worth of fish in a single day. But even a good boat, running the best gear available, is no guarantee of success.
John Brett (whose NFB film One Man's Paradise profiled clan patriarch Lewie Henneberry) sets out to discover what it takes to be a really great fisherman. In the process, he captures his own misadventures - from rogue waves to cameras that self-destruct at the worst possible moments.
This gritty portrait captures both the allure and romance of the primal sea and the price that must be paid by those who follow the fisherman's calling.
Availability
Subject categories
- Fishing and Hunting Industries > Atlantic RegionFishing BoatsFishing Communities
- Work and Labour Relations > Working Life
Credits
- participant
- Peter Campbell
- Cindy Chin
- Charles De Pisa
- Harvey Dominics
- Brian Feener
- Bill Gilkie
- Donald Gilkie
- Todd Gray
- Andrew Henneberry
- Billy Henneberry
- Casey Henneberry
- Clark Henneberry
- Lewie Henneberry
- Regan Henneberry
- Robin Henneberry
- Mark Horne
- Dick Jones
- Kristopher Kirk
- Jody Malloy
- Byron Nagle
- Paul Parnell
- Julie Porter
- Claude Rideout
- Phillip Ryan
- Greg Smith
- direction
- John Brett
- camera
- John Brett
- editing
- John Brett
- writing
- John Brett
- additional footage
- Clark Henneberry
- additional camera
- Kent Nason
- credit sequence
- Kent Nason
- additional technical work
- Cory Gibson
- Doug Porter
- Brian Culliton
- transcription
- Marsha Parker
- original music composer
- Steven Naylor
- post-production video editor
- Todd Foster
- supervising sound editor
- René Beaudry
- sound effects editor
- Christian Wood
- foley artist
- Krista Wells
- re-recording mixer
- Allan Scarth
- associate producer
- John Wesley Chisholm
- production administrator
- John Wesley Chisholm
- program administrator
- John William Lutz
- production supervisor
- Patricia Coughran
- producer
- Kent Martin
- John Brett
- Joan MacKinnon
- executive producer
- John Brett