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Vessel

  • 2014
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
243
YOUR RATING
Vessel (2014)
Trailer for Vessel
Play trailer1:57
1 Video
2 Photos
DocumentaryAdventureBiography

A fearless sea captain sails a ship through loopholes in international law, providing abortions on the high seas, and leaving in her wake a network of emboldened activists who trust women to... Read allA fearless sea captain sails a ship through loopholes in international law, providing abortions on the high seas, and leaving in her wake a network of emboldened activists who trust women to handle abortion on their own terms.A fearless sea captain sails a ship through loopholes in international law, providing abortions on the high seas, and leaving in her wake a network of emboldened activists who trust women to handle abortion on their own terms.

  • Director
    • Diana Whitten
  • Stars
    • Rebecca Gomperts
    • Kinga Jelinski
    • Cecilia Costa
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.6/10
    243
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Diana Whitten
    • Stars
      • Rebecca Gomperts
      • Kinga Jelinski
      • Cecilia Costa
    • 1User review
    • 3Critic reviews
    • 68Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 4 wins & 3 nominations

    Videos1

    Vessel
    Trailer 1:57
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    Rebecca Gomperts
    Kinga Jelinski
    • Self - Women on Waves activist
    Cecilia Costa
    • Self - Women on Waves activist
    Gunilla Kleiverda
    • Self - Women on Waves activist
    • Director
      • Diana Whitten
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Vessel
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    The Vessel

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    User reviews1

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    An Important Film about the International Aspects of the Abortion Issue
    The Vessel was well-received in its world premiere at Austin's SXSW Film Festival. There is a huge media and public focus in the United States in general and in recently here in Texas in particular on the issue of abortion. However, there is rarely much attention – at least in this country - paid to the international aspects of the issue of anti- abortion laws in laws in other parts of the world. The Vessel focuses on the work of the Dutch-chartered Women on the Waves ship which sails to various countries with anti-abortion laws and performs off-shore abortions outside of the international 12-mile territorial limit. While the number of abortions that they perform is a drop in the bucket, their efforts often manage to stir up controversy and draw political attention to their cause.

    The film covers an extended period of time dating back to their founding in 2001 and includes footage from Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Ecuador and Tanzania. They manage to pull on the audience's emotional heartstrings by sharing letters from women seeking abortions. In general the film is solidly filmed and the women interviewed are articulate ambassadors for their cause. Some of the rhetoric does become a little repetitive. The film also comes off as a bit one-sided as the filmmakers present their subject's opponents as close-minded extremists. They also seem unwilling to seriously engage any frames of reference on the issue other than their own of seeing abortion purely as a human right. They don't want to discuss the serious religious concerns that their opponents have. In one sequence, the activists proudly mock their opponents by hanging their abortion banner from a statue of the Virgin in Ecuador. The offensiveness of this tactic doesn't seem to occur to the either the activists or the film makers. Thus the film makers really seem to cross the line from documentary filmmakers to political advocates. Still the film is an important one that brings attention to some under discussed elements of what is truly a global – and not just an American – issue.
    helpful•14
    1
    • JustCuriosity
    • Mar 10, 2014

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • February 27, 2015 (Netherlands)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • Tanzania
      • Spain
      • Portugal
      • Poland
      • Pakistan
      • Netherlands
      • Ireland
      • Indonesia
      • Ecuador
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Production company
      • Neue Vitaskop Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $800,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 30 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 16:9 HD

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