Video

About this submission

New York Harbor was once home to acres of oyster reefs and various sea creatures. The Lenape people nurtured this ecosystem. However, in the early 1900s, the harbor became lifeless due to pollution and overharvesting by settlers. The Harbor School provides a marine science curriculum and collaborates with organizations to restore New York Harbor.

This documentary chronicles Asher’s relationship with New York’s waters. Driven by his love of being on boats and inspiration to restore his local environment, this Brooklyn teen ventures beyond the concrete jungle to enter the city’s rivers to learn how to become a vessel operator.

Ziyne Abdo

Creator

ZIYNE ABDO (she/her) is a journalist, filmmaker and future anthropologist born and raised in Minnesota's Twin Cities and currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Her work explores community empowerment and human connection. Ziyne's work focuses on informative visual storytelling. She aims to challenge viewers to critique their society and to reflect on their perspectives and actions toward achieving a fair and liberated world. Her narrative short film, 'being,' was officially selected to screen at several film festivals, including the British Urban Film Festival and New Faces New Voices. Ziyne joined 11 other filmmakers to participate in BRIC's Documentary Intensive 2025 cohort, where she directed and produced the short documentary 'Talking the Helm," which was screened in a free public showcase for Brooklyn's community. Ziyne graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in May 2022 with her Bachelor's in Film and Television with honors and Journalism with honors. more...