‘The Tuna Truth’ Makes Asian Debut With Bangkok Screening at Blue Elephant

The Tuna Truth, a feature documentary examining the environmental and human stakes behind the global tuna industry, made its Asian screening debut in Bangkok on Sept. 14, ahead of its official U.K. launch and international release.

The outdoor screening at Blue Elephant Sukhumvit, Bangkok, brought together filmmakers, sustainability advocates, seafood executives and hospitality figures for an unconventional premiere night pairing ocean conservation with Thai cuisine and cocktails.

Commissioned by the International Pole & Line Foundation (IPNLF) and produced by Sunline Films, the documentary approaches sustainability through travel, food and personal stories rather than a conventional environmental warning. British chef Serena Appleby, known for BBC Three’s Hungry for It, fronts the feature, travelling through fishing communities and supply chains to examine how tuna moves from ocean to plate.

At the film’s centre is a simple proposition: the future of tuna may depend not only on how much is caught, but how it is caught and who benefits.

The documentary focuses on “one-by-one” fisheries, including pole-and-line and handline methods in which tuna are caught individually. Advocates say these techniques allow fishers to target tuna more selectively, reduce unwanted bycatch and support coastal employment under pressure from industrial-scale fishing.

Rather than framing sustainability as an abstract ecological issue, The Tuna Truth links marine conservation with livelihoods, food security, global trade and consumer choice. Appleby’s presence gives the subject an accessible entry point, pushing the film closer to a food-and-travel feature than an institutional campaign film.

The project has earned a shortlist place for a Jackson Wild Media Award.

For IPNLF, the film takes a discussion often confined to fisheries, retailers and policymakers and puts it before a mainstream audience. The U.K.-registered nonprofit works with one-by-one tuna fisheries in 33 countries and has 58 members, including Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Whole Foods and Woolworths South Africa.

Bangkok offered a fitting stage for the film’s first Asian showcase. Thailand plays a major role in the global seafood economy while the capital is one of Asia’s leading culinary destinations. Screening the film at Blue Elephant connected the documentary’s argument directly with what ultimately lands on the plate.

Blue Elephant now spans restaurants, cooking schools and a Thai food business exporting to more than 40 countries. Following the lawn screening, guests attended a cocktail reception featuring the group’s cuisine and drinks.

For the entertainment industry, The Tuna Truth arrives amid continued demand for nonfiction stories that translate complex environmental issues into character-driven narratives with international reach.

Its message is neatly cinematic in its simplicity: one fish, one fisher, one line.

Following its Bangkok bow at Blue Elephant, the documentary now heads toward its U.K. launch and wider rollout with an awards credential and a timely question at its core: can everyday choices at the dinner table help determine the future of both ocean ecosystems and the communities that depend upon them?