INTRODUCTION

RUNTIME | 92 minutes

LOGLINE | Activists rally to free 100 orcas and belugas from Russian “whale jail” bound to be sold to Chinese marine parks. A captivating docu-thriller with unprecedented access showing that compassion and persistence can make a difference - no matter how big the challenge is.

SYNOPSIS

There is a new insatiable appetite for one of the most magnificent animals in the wild. While in the West, SeaWorld’s business model of exploiting “killer whales” for profit in captivity faces widespread public shaming, global demand in the Far East is exploding. China is building several hundred aquariums throughout its provinces - and they want orcas to play a starring role. The demand for these endangered animals is worth a staggering amount of money - tens of millions of dollars, and now the pipeline for this illicit captivity trade is in Russia.

ORCA - BLACK & WHITE GOLD takes place in urban Russia, as well as the remote, frozen Kamchatka Peninsula in the Sea of Okhotsk, and the burgeoning Chinese marine park industry. A ragtag team of black-market hunters, led by a mafia-style local boss, captured 90 beluga whales and 11 orcas under a government issued “educational permit” with the intent to illegally sell the animals to the Chinese aquarium market. The plan would have worked if not for a groups of local Russian activists who alerted the world to the existence of a “whale jail,” a remote bay with tiny holding pens for the animals. Once public, their abusive captivity sparked global outrage that reached all the way to the Kremlin, causing the government to halt the shipment to China, and order all the animals to be released back into the wild. The Russian businessmen, who had already taken a $7-million down payment from the Chinese, are outraged their business model is being destroyed by a bunch of eco-activists. Russian government ministers believe the whole controversy has been instigated and funded by Americans backed by SeaWorld, in order to cut the Russians out of the orca business.

Meanwhile in China, a former animal trainer turned conservationist takes us behind the glossy spectacle of children laughing at orca tricks in brand new aquariums to reveal the brutal truth of life in captivity for these majestic and highly intelligent animals. She goes undercover to get the marine park staff to reveal the lies they tell about the animals’ health and orca family separation. Back in Russia, the film is the only team who acquired access to the Russian businessmen and their catching teams, who are now forced to figure out how to safely transport and release over 100 cetaceans on a journey over a thousand miles of rough terrain. Due to the notoriety of the “whale jail” the world is watching their every move. Western marine experts predict they will kill animals inadvertently during the release, while local Russian activists believe the mobsters have no intention of releasing the animals at all, and will secretly hand them over to the Chinese to make good on their debt.

ORCA - BLACK & WHITE GOLD is a thrilling ride inside the battle between a ring of Russian businessmen, mobsters, orca catchers, and bureaucrats now driving the global captivity trade, and the formidable resistance from journalists and activists who take great personal risks to protect the animals. The outcome of their fight will determine whether the animals can survival the damage to their population caused by the rapacious global marine park industry, or if the fate of this endangered population has already been sealed.