On the trawler The Spirit of Namibia, moored off the coast of Namibia, diamond mining goes on around the clock. On the ocean floor the supply of the coveted little diamonds seems endless, but their capture is muddy with politics and fraught with racial tensions. Without commentary, filmmakers Adi Barash and Ruthie Shatz plunge us into the daily life of an international crew working in the service of a faceless mining conglomerate that owns not only the ship but the surrounding waters as well. As they do battle with the rusty old boat and its dubious rewards, the men are drawn into contemplation of their situation. Their social matrix is a revealing microcosm: white South Africans spouting racist theories, Cubans who write poetry and speak of love, an Israeli security manager who makes himself the enemy, Namibian deck hands who find themselves colonized in their own country.
