Prada Re-Nylon 2025

FORGOTTEN FORESTS

In the final installation of this four-part film series, created in collaboration with Prada and storytelling partner National Geographic CreativeWorks, actress Sadie Sink introduces us to the Great Kelp Highway of Northern and Central America. A vital marine ecosystem, the Great Kelp Highway denotes a stretch of subterranean forests of kelp that runs for thousands of miles along the pacific coasts of the Americas. The richness and biodiversity of the wildlife of the Great Kelp Highway – edible fish, shellfish, marine mammals, birds and seaweed – sustained not only life within its waters, but through centuries of fishing, humankind as well. Sadie Sink, alongside marine biologist, SEA BEYONDer and Goodwill Ambassador of the project Giovanni Chimienti and scientist Rodrigo Beas, explore the Great Kelp Highway in the waters of Islas Coronado, off the northwest coast of the Mexican state of Baja California. First-hand, they witness how rising ocean temperatures, near-extinction of species, overfishing and global pollution have all affected the kelp forests – a delicate habitat, now endangered.

CREDITS:
Talent: Sadie Sink
Sea Beyonder: Giovanni Chimienti
Director: Johnny Langenheim
DoP: Keidrych Wasley
Creative Director: Richard Phillips
Local Expert: Rodrigo Beas

GENTLE GIANTS

For the third episode, Actress Sadie Sink travels to La Paz, Mexico and the Pacific Ocean to discover the whale shark. Gentle giants, whale sharks are the world’s largest fish - their roles as “gardeners of the ocean” is derived from their diet of plankton and algae, consuming enormous quantities to fuel their vast size. In turn, they aid marine biology by controlling these plant levels – excessive amounts of either would decrease sunlight and oxygen in the surrounding ocean, disrupting the natural ecosystem. But today these essential animals are under threat, as marine biologist, SEA BEYONDer and Goodwill Ambassador of the project Giovanni Chimienti and whale shark specialist Alberto Garcia Baciero discuss. Their numbers are affected by overfishing – where whale sharks are often accidentally caught – struck by vessels when feeding near the surface, and injured through unsustainable tourism. A major problem is ocean pollution, which both affects the animals themselves and the plankton that is their main source of sustenance.

CREDITS:
Talent: Sadie Sink
Sea Beyonder: Giovanni Chimienti
Director: Johnny Langenheim
DoP: Keidrych Wasley
Creative Director: Richard Phillips
Local Expert: Alberto Garcia Baciero

DROWNING IN NOISE

For the second film, Benedict Cumberbatch travels to the Norwegian town of Bodø, to see the impact of humanity on the sonic underwater environment. Captured on film within the ocean of the Arctic Circle, whales and other oceanic mammals use a variety of sounds for communication and sensation. The song of whales in particular can cover vast distances — their haunting sounds have been studied to even flow across entire ocean basins. Environmental advocate, actress, SEA BEYONDer and Goodwill Ambassador of the project Valentina Gottlieb speaks with Dr. Heike Vester, a biologist who specializes in social behavior and bio-acoustics of marine animals, to examine the impact of human activity on the rich acoustic environment of the ocean — the noise pollution of shipping, and seismic surveys in the search for natural oil and gas. It also details measures we can take to combat this disruption, and help maintain the delicate balance of marine life, sustaining species and their languages for future generations.

CREDITS:
Talent: Benedict Cumberbatch
Sea Beyonder: Valentina Gottlieb
Director: Johnny Langenheim
DoP: Keidrych Wasley
Creative Director: Richard Phillips
Local Expert: Heike Vester

ON ARCTIC TIDES

In the first of four films, Benedict Cumberbatch visits the Lofoten Archipelago of Norway, within the Arctic Circle, to examine the critical issue of plastic pollution in the Arctic, alongside environmental advocate and actress Valentina Gottlieb and local expert Carl Höjman. Ocean currents carrying plastic waste and “ghost nets” — thousands of kilometers of fishing nets that have been lost or abandoned — impact ecosystems across the globe, littering beaches and trapping and killing marine life. They are indicative of unsustainable fishing practices that add thousands of tons of plastic to the ocean each year.

CREDITS
Talent: Benedict Cumberbatch
Sea Beyonder: Valentina Gottlieb
Director: Johnny Langenheim
DoP: Keidrych Wasley
Creative Director: Richard Phillips
Local: Carl Höjman