Maldivian Fishermen Video by Aishath Naajila is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 Silver A' Design Award in Movie, Video and Animation Design Competition Category.
SilverMovie· 2026
Maldivian Fishermen Video
Client: Two Thousand Isles
Silver A' Design Award Winner in Movie Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #183833The Design
About Maldivian Fishermen Video
The film Maldivian Fishermen features traditional single pole and line fishing of tuna in the Maldives, a sustainable method which is often described as the lifeblood of the island nation. For generations, tuna has been a staple food that supports daily life across the islands. Adopting a storytelling approach with cinematic visuals and immersive sound design, the project captures skilled fishermen working in a coordinated rhythm aboard a traditional Dhonis, bringing the experience to a global stage.
The Recognition
About the Silver A' Design Award
Maldivian Fishermen Video is a Silver A' Design Award winner, an extraordinarily prestigious recognition granted to top-of-the-line, gorgeous, and impressive designs. Silver winners are tremendously brilliant and exceedingly creative works that illustrate the outstanding expertise, talent, and acuity of their designers. Maldivian Fishermen Video is expected to be a wonderful, showpiece work that is remarkably professional and profoundly innovative. This Silver A' Design Award-winning design is a highly notable, admired invention that benefits and advances the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology. Maldivian Fishermen Video is a vastly envied creation that evokes desires, introduces positive feelings, and sparks amazement and wonderment.
Interviews
Design Interview
What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
The project is rooted in documenting and preserving the traditional pole-and-line fishing practice in the Maldives. It was inspired by a long-standing curiosity about fishing culture, which evolved through my journey in storytelling and freediving. An eight-day immersive experience at sea allowed me to observe and live alongside fishermen, shaping the narrative around heritage, resilience, and the ocean’s natural food chain.
What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
My main focus was authenticity, to portray the lived reality of Maldivian fishermen without staging or interference. It was also about showing something I hadn’t seen with my own eyes before, yet felt important and distant for many of us. I wanted to step into that world, experience it firsthand, and translate what I saw, felt, and learned into visual form. The goal was to recreate that experience as truthfully as possible and share it with others as I experienced it myself.
What are your future plans for this award winning design?
The project serves as an ongoing archive of Maldivian maritime culture. I plan to continue expanding it into a larger body of work, potentially developing it into exhibitions, educational screenings, and long-form documentary storytelling around ocean life and sustainable practices.
Grand Interview
The Maldivian Fishermen Video achieves something genuinely rare in documentary filmmaking, an unfiltered and unstaged portrayal of traditional Maldivian pole-and-line tuna fishing that feels both deeply personal and cinematically powerful, so what guided your decision to adopt an entirely unobtrusive approach aboard the dhoni, and how did that choice ultimately shape the emotional texture and authenticity of the Maldivian Fishermen Video as a complete work?
I never planned to make a full video out of it when I first got on the boat. It started as a fishing trip with friends, and I was simply an observer. I knew there was a story even at the time, so I filmed what intrigued me in the moment because I might not again get the chance to see Maldivian fishermen in action like that. After the trip, I reviewed all the clips and pieced them together like a puzzle to reflect the process as I saw and observed it, making the best of the time I had. It ultimately helped me shape it into something others could watch and relate to.
Sustainable fishing practices sit at the center of urgent global conversations about ocean preservation, and the Maldivian Fishermen Video presents this centuries-old pole-and-line method not as a relic but as a living, breathing tradition, so how do you believe the Maldivian Fishermen Video contributes to broader public understanding of sustainable harvesting, and what specific visual or narrative choices did you make to communicate the ecological significance of this practice to audiences with no prior connection to Maldivian culture?
I think it's importance comes from showing the full process, not just the catch, but the hard work, uncertainty, waiting, and timing that all come with it, and how deeply it’s connected to Maldivian culture and economy. It also reflects how our livelihood depends on it, where every part of the process matters and contributes directly to sustaining communities. By presenting it as it naturally unfolds, it helps audiences understand that sustainability here isn’t an idea in theory, but something lived and practiced every day.
The Maldivian Fishermen Video was produced independently with a lean equipment configuration, combining a full-frame mirrorless camera, a drone operating on a single battery, and a compact action camera for underwater footage, and given these technical limitations, how did you strategically plan each shooting day to ensure that the Maldivian Fishermen Video would achieve the cinematic quality and narrative depth that ultimately earned it the Silver A' Design Award in the Movie, Video and Animation category?
Honestly, I had no prior plan for how the entire video was going to look. I just tried my best to capture everything that was happening as it unfolded. That meant waking up with the fishermen even if it was midnight while they caught bait, moving around them without disturbing their work, and finding the right moments to get shots without getting in the way. I also had to be very intentional about not overshooting because of limited battery, so I focused on capturing only what felt necessary in the moment. Basically, I worked within those limits by being present, observing, and shooting only when it mattered.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- This is an independently produced documentary visual project capturing the traditional pole-and-line fishing practice in the Maldives. Created during COVID-19 while in isolation at sea, it combines cinematography, sound design, and immersive storytelling. Its strength lies in its authenticity, produced within real conditions of isolation, offering an intimate, unfiltered portrayal of Maldivian fishermen. The work stands out for its experiential approach, blending heritage, resilience, and cinematic realism.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Shot aboard a 100-foot pole-and-line fishing dhoni, the project documents Maldivian fishermen working at sea with precise, coordinated movements resembling a disciplined system. Through aerial perspectives, it captures the ocean’s food chain in motion, sharks, skipjack tuna, and fishermen, framing these moments to reflect the deep connection between this traditional practice and the Maldives’ identity and way of life.
- Tags
- sustainable, fishing, pole and line, Maldives, tuna, ocean, documentry
- Production Technology
- Filmed on a Sony A7 III with 35mm, 85mm, and 70–200mm lenses, with aerials via DJI Phantom 4 and underwater footage on a GoPro during freediving, the project was produced independently,covering planning, real-time filming, editing, sound design, and colour grading. An unobtrusive approach allowed fishermen to work naturally, ensuring an authentic, unstaged portrayal without direction.
- Design Challenge
- The project faced logistical constraints, including limited equipment, a single drone battery requiring precise planning, and long waits for unpredictable moments at sea. The first four days saw no catch due to bait shortages, and underwater footage relied solely on a GoPro. Adapting strategically, key moments were captured to form an authentic narrative of the fishermen’s practice and the ocean’s food chain.
- Research
- Documentary visual research on sustainable pole-and-line fishing in the Maldives. Field-based observation and immersive filming were conducted over 8 days in March 2020 aboard a local fishing vessel during the COVID-19 period. Data was collected through photography, film, aerial, and underwater footage. Participants included local fishermen. The results highlight ecological balance, resilience, and coordination. The impact emphasizes cultural preservation and awareness of sustainable fishing practices.
- Inspiration
- Inspired by a lifelong curiosity about fishing in the Maldives, the project evolved through Two Thousand Isles, where travel deepened an interest in storytelling and lived experience. While learning freediving, the filmmaker joined an eight-day trip on a local boat, living at sea, waking before dawn and at midnight, eating the catch, and observing the ocean’s food chain in motion.
- Project Duration
- Filmed over eight days aboard a fishing vessel in March 2020, during the early stages of COVID-19, the project was later completed with full post-production, editing, sound design, and colour grading, independently carried out later that year.
- Operation Flow
- Operated on a traditional pole-and-line dhoni, the method relies on coordinated teamwork and timing rather than machinery. Fishermen attract skipjack tuna with live bait, triggering a feeding response where fish are hooked individually. Key moments, bait release, surface frenzy, precise catching, transform ocean activity into a sustainable harvest, reducing bycatch and ensuring quality, rooted in skill, patience, and harmony with marine life.
- Patents
- All the copyrights belong to Aishath Naajila, 2023.
- Image Credits
- Videography & Photography: Aishath Naajila
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