The Sea of Jeju Haenyeo and Basque Women of Spain... ‘Daughters of the Sea’ Selected as Closing Film

【Financial News, Jeju—Reporter Jeong Yong-bok】 The lives of Jeju haenyeo, who dive without oxygen tanks, and Basque women in Spain, who mend nets, have been brought together in a documentary. The Korean-Spanish co-production Daughters of the Sea will screen as the closing film of the 27th Jeju Women’s Film Festival on the 18th.
The Jeju Content Promotion Institute said on the 15th that Daughters of the Sea, a documentary whose production it supported last year through its Domestic and International Pre-Production Support Program, had been selected as the closing film of the Jeju Women’s Film Festival.
The film follows the labor, skills and memories of women who have made the sea their livelihood in Jeju and Gipuzkoa, in Spain’s Basque Country, thousands of kilometers apart.
It shines a light on both the haenyeo’s practice of entering the sea without equipment to harvest seafood and the maritime culture sustained by women on the Basque coast, who mend nets and steer boats.
The two regions differ in their natural environments and ways of working, but share knowledge accumulated at sea, cooperation among women and the passing down of traditions within communities. In particular, the film asks how skills and wisdom about life, learned through long experience, can be passed on to the next generation.
Jeju Haenyeo Culture was inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list in 2016. Its core values were recognized as including not only the skills used to harvest seafood without oxygen-supply equipment, but also ecological knowledge of the sea, community cooperation and the passing down of traditions between generations.
The film stands out for presenting Jeju Haenyeo Culture in comparison with maritime women’s communities in other countries.
The film was directed by Spanish filmmaker Gemma Gonzalez Martinez. It was co-produced by Spain’s Ladyred Production and South Korea’s Basim Pictures, with Korean producer Lee Mi-jin co-directing the Jeju segment and documenting the lives of the haenyeo. The 63-minute documentary was made through collaboration between Jeju and Gipuzkoa in Spain.

The film was first presented at overseas film festivals. It had its world premiere as the opening film of Gnat Zinema, the Gipuzkoa nature film festival held in Spain on September 7. It was then invited to Zinemira, the section showcasing Basque regional films at the 74th San Sebastian International Film Festival.
After premiering in Spain, the film was selected as the closing film of the Jeju Women’s Film Festival, creating an opportunity for audiences at home and abroad to encounter the lives and culture of Jeju haenyeo.
The film is also notable as an outcome of production support from the Jeju Content Promotion Institute. Last year, the institute supported the project’s preparation through its Domestic and International Pre-Production Support Program. Pre-production is the stage before principal photography when planning, research and production plans are developed in detail.
The film is an example of Korean and overseas production companies collaborating around distinctive local cultural resources and bringing a project through to screenings at international film festivals. The Jeju Content Promotion Institute supports the production and domestic and international distribution of video content drawing on the region’s nature, culture and people’s stories.
The 27th Jeju Women’s Film Festival, themed “I Can’t Be the Only One Who Thrives,” runs from the 15th to the 18th at the Jeju Yeondong branch of Lotte Cinema. It is hosted by the Jeju Women’s Association and organized by the Jeju Women’s Film Festival Executive Committee, and will screen 29 films, including features and shorts.
Daughters of the Sea will screen at 5:30 p.m. on the 18th in Theater 3 at the Jeju Yeondong branch of Lotte Cinema. A conversation with the audience is also planned.
Lee Su-kyung, head of the Content Development Team at the Jeju Content Promotion Institute, said, “A work we supported has premiered overseas and been selected as the closing film of the Jeju Women’s Film Festival,” adding, “We will continue to support the production and domestic and international distribution of content that captures Jeju’s unique culture and stories.”


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