Blood Type Plastic
I’m delighted to finally put this film out into the world. It has been through many iterations and taken a little while to settle on this cut.
In the summer or 2021 the subject of the film, sailor turned ocean plastics campaigner Jo Royle contacted me after seeing another of my films and asked if I would be interested in making a film about her recent study that scientists had discovered plastics in human blood samples, including her own.
It’s a fascinating and obviously incredibly concerning story and one which, given our window of opportunity with Jo, budget and access, could have been difficult to tell. Without access to the labs and scientists making these discoveries, we decided to concentrate on the personal impact of the revelation that Jo has discovered plastic in her blood, and what that might mean for her and for mankind - nearly 80% of people studies had some type of plastic detected in their blood samples.
The result is a deeply personal and somewhat existential film full of foreboding and reflection. The contrast of the subject matter and beautifully shot dawn swim in Autumnal Devon is stark and full of metaphor.
Produced & directed by me and co-written by myself and Jo, the film is beautifully shot by DOP Jason Hearn and, I would say, is easily my most important film to date.
We showed a preview cut at the 2023 London Surf Film Festival at Riverside Studios and have decided to self-release (2024) because Jo has since left the Ocean Plastics charity she founded and so the intended platform no longer felt relevant.
Below are a few images I made during the shoot.
You can wath the film here.
All images © Owen Tozer. No usage or copying permitted without a licence.