“Ama” means women of the sea in Japanese. For hundreds of years, the Ama have risked their lives to dive deep into the ocean without a breathing apparatus to hunt for abalone, a culinary delicacy. The Ama live in the small coastal village of Shirahama, where women are the breadwinners in a largely patriarchal Japan. Generation after generation have passed down the technique of holding their breathe for over two minutes and diving below thirty feet into the ocean.
With the younger generation migrating to the city for work, the art of free-diving for shellfish is in danger of being lost. It is up to the grandmothers, the unexpected wonder women, who continue the practice of free-diving. This documentary provides a portrait of Hideko Sakaguchi, an 80-year-old Ama, who is one of the remaining 2,000 women keeping this tradition alive.
WINNER: Daytime Emmy for Best Travel & Adventure Documentary
Executive Producer: Robert N. Fried, Peter King, Cristina Malavenda, Sean-Michael Smith
Director: Tani Ikeda
Series: Wonder Women
Produced by: Hallmark
PRESS: Awards Watch