'The Summer of Sharks' is as fun as it sounds

Valley native Eli Martinez, editor of Shark Diver Magazine, delivers with his premiere documentary on the sport of shark diving. Summer of the Sharks, which Martinez produced himself, was a three year project in the making.

Filmed in 2006, Martinez, along with his crew — comprised of Brownsville native, director Rusty Armstrong, graduate of UT Austin, and fellow shark enthusiast Andy Murch — went on a two month tour of several shark diving locations to document the sport.

Martinez’s self proclaimed love of adrenaline sports has found him seeking high intensity sports since his teenage years. After an injury due to a bull riding accident, Martinez was seeking a replacement and chanced upon shark diving. Since then, he founded Shark Diver Magazine — solely devoted to the promotion of shark diving and conservation of sharks — and has worked closely with Andy Murch, a principle photographer for his magazine, since 2004.

The documentary deals with the misconceptions of shark diving that arise, something that Martinez and Murch dispute ardently. Their lives as professional shark divers leads them all over the world — encountering different species and different cultures. The image that sharks portray is generally that of something to fear, rather than something to enteract with and understand. And the fear is understandable, when the image that is connoted of sharks generally surrounds a Spielberg film and a John Williams score, but that is exactly what Martinez argues against in his film.

With guitar rifts that make you think of hair bands of the late 80s, you see a side of these two men that is entirely enjoyable, because they truly enjoy what they do. They do however, understand the dangers of their lifestyle — something Martinez realizes as he is surrounded by a group of large Dusty sharks, forty or so strong.

Summer of the Sharks also speaks of the damage we enact on the shark population. With footage that can only be described as disturbing but necessary to see, you understand the plight we put upon these animals.

Summer of the Sharks is made well, entertaining and has just enough social commentary without sounding preachy. The film is exactly what it says it is, a “shark diving story.”

SUMMER OF THE SHARKS
Length: 74 min
Directed by: Rusty Armstrong
Cinematography by: Rusty Armstrong
Original score by: Pete Oliva

WATCH IT!
WHEN: 1:15 pm, Sunday, Sept. 13
WHERE: Texas State Technical College Theater