March 27, 2017 — So, a cod fish walks into a bar and the bartender says, “Why the long face?”
Perhaps the answer to that endearing question will be divulged in one of the three films on commercial fishing that already have hit the screen or soon will.
(And, according to FishOn’s far-flung film sources, there may be a fourth fishing documentary on the way, but that is yet undocumented. As always, watch this space.)
The one documentary already completed is “Sacred Cod,” which examines the New England cod fishery through the lens of its history and influence, ultimately detailing the collapse that led to the current fishing crisis in the Gulf of Maine.
The film has a decidedly Bay State feel, as much of it is set in Gloucester and the waters around Cape Ann and features a cast of familiar faces from the waterfront and among fishing stakeholders.
It is produced and directed by Steve Liss, a long-time, award-winning photographer at Time magazine who now teaches at Endicott College in Beverly; David Abel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter at The Boston Globe; and Andy Laub, an accomplished editor and founder of As It Happens Creative.
“Sacred Cod” showed at a few festivals last fall and will receive its greatest exposure on April 13, when it premieres at 9 p.m. on the Discovery Channel and joins the cable network’s revolving spring lineup.
It will be screened twice in Boston — April 4 at Boston’s Park Plaza Hotel as part of the national meeting of the Center for Effective Philanthropy and, in a Conservation Law Foundation-sponsored screening open to the public, April 13, at the Boston Public Library.