On a quiet and foggy summer evening along the shores of the Otago Harbor in Dunedin, New Zealand there is an unusual animal moving through the shallows. The mysterious visitor is a sevengill shark. Sevengills are common inhabitants of temperate coastal waters, but surprisingly little is known about them anywhere in the world and almost nothing is known about them in New Zealand. Why have they chosen to venture into these waters? Could they pose a threat to coastal residents, swimmers and surfers? In the murky waters along this stretch of coast the answers are not easily discovered.
Secrets of the Sevengill explores the lives of these little known, large and predatory sharks that inhabit waters surprisingly close to this small, New Zealand city. Their preference for murky water makes filming them particularly challenging, yet, also very rewarding. Never before has a film been made that attempts to better understand the lives of these animals and captures the unique behaviors that they exhibit. Unlike most shark films, Secrets of the Sevengill takes advantage of a slower pace to allow audiences to revel in fascination of the animal and the attempts by scientists and the community to understand it.
This film was produced, written and directed by Michael Mauntler while a graduate student int he program for Natural History Filmmaking and Communication at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. The film is Michael's first. All footage was shot on miniDV and in anamorphic. Secrets of the Sevengill was one of eight films to screen at the Regent Theatre in Dunedin on May 28, 2006, as a celebration of films completed by students in the course during the 2005-2006 calendar year.
