Abalone (or marine snails) is a hot commodity on the black market. It is a luxury food item particularly sought after in the far East and Europe. It is not surprisingly, also the life blood of working class families of fishermen who poach the marine mollusk from protected waters. Large syndicates, often linked to the drug trade or turf gangs, act as middlemen in the trade. South Africa, especially the coast around Cape Town, is a key node in this illegal trade. Just earlier this month, Cape Town police arrested 65 suspected abalone poachers in one day.

Sons of the Sea is a new feature film by Mexican-American director John Gutierrez. (The film had its premiere at Cinequest in March 2021 and will be showing again at the Durban International Film Festival in South Africa which takes place between 22 July and 1 August. 2021.)  The film is set on the False Bay coast in Cape Town. The plot follows two brothers from the “council flats” on the wrong side of the tracks of the picturesque fishing village and tourist haven of Kalk Bay. One of the brothers stumbles across a motherload of poached abalone, or perlemoen as it is known locally. Older brother Mikhail (Marlon Swartz) sees it as his last ticket out of the ghetto, while for younger brother Gabe (Roberto Kyle) it could spell the end of a promising future. As they figure out a plan to sell the abalone on the black market, a rogue city council official (Brendon Daniels), who has his own set of personal tragedies to deal with, begins to hunt them down.

Without being didactic, the film touches on colonialism, displacement, and man’s complicated relationship with nature. It is a beautifully shot, authentically performed thriller that will travel well on the festival circuit. Gutierrez is based in Cape Town (his life partner is the acclaimed South African writer and director Nadia Davids, an executive producer on Sons of the Sea) and we met to talk about the film and its themes; his documentary approach to making fiction; and the similarities between his native California and his current home on the tip of Africa.