Just offshore from Newhaven, in 1962, pioneering angler and skipper Dorothy Trethowan is at sea, fishing for Dogfish and Whiting. It is still uncommon for women to be skippers, and the belief that they are bad omens at sea clings on. Working in resistance to this outdated narrative, in her latest catch she makes a remarkable discovery. Within the belly of a fish, she discovers a gold coin. Minted in Guatemala in 1860, this coin, over a century old, has somehow undertaken an epic journey across the deep oceans, to be discovered by Dorothy on the Sussex coast.  

Gold Guts is an 8mm film which pays homage to this strange and somewhat miraculous story, akin to a fable, documented at the Hastings Fishing Museum. Shot on b&w 8mm film, and hand-processed in an non-toxic, eco-friendly developer, the film is composed of footage from Hastings Fishing Fleet, Hastings beach and Hastings Aquarium. In a curious parallel, many of the tropical fish on display in the aquarium are found in waters around Guatemala. Images of nets, ropes and industrial fishing machinery sit alongside shots of tropical fish from the aquarium, as a mysterious, pristine, object emerges from the depths.