Before you watch Stone Biter, there’s a story worth knowing—one that didn’t make it into the film but captures everything about why this documentary exists.
Filmmaker Ismaele Tortella was diving in the frigid waters off Northern Norway, documenting changes to the seafloor, when he spotted a lumpfish among newly growing kelp. As he moved in for a closer shot, another lumpfish suddenly burst from the vegetation and slapped him squarely in the face.
“It was clearly telling me to ‘go away!'” Tortella recalls with evident delight. “I backed off immediately, but it was an incredible moment. It reminded me that this place was alive again.”
That defensive slap—protective, territorial, utterly alive—wasn’t just a memorable encounter. It was a sign that something remarkable was happening beneath the surface of Norway’s coastal waters.
From Mediterranean Warmth to Arctic Cold
The journey to capture Stone Biter began far from Norway’s northern seas. Tortella grew up along Italy’s Trabocchi coast in the Abruzzo region, surrounded by dramatic contrasts: the Adriatic Sea at his doorstep and, within an hour’s drive, Apennine peaks rising nearly 3,000 metres into the sky.
“Growing up surrounded by such diverse landscapes is where I first started taking nature photographs and where I also began to understand what we are losing in the natural world,” Tortella explains.
Those early experiences shaped his perspective on fragile ecosystems and human responsibility—themes that would become central to Stone Biter. But when he moved north and began working in the Arctic, he faced challenges his Mediterranean upbringing never prepared him for.
Learning to scuba dive during the polar night, in the middle of an Arctic winter, was no small feat. “It was anything but easy,” he admits. “Especially for someone from Italy.”
The underwater footage you’ll see in Stone Biter—kelp forests, sea urchins, wolffish in their natural habitat—was captured in conditions that demanded complete physical adaptation to an utterly foreign environment.
The Impossible Schedule
If diving in near-freezing darkness was difficult, planning when to film proved even more challenging.
“Without a doubt, the hardest part was dealing with the Arctic weather and the planning that comes with it,” Tortella says. “Outdoor filming in the Arctic is almost impossible to plan far in advance—conditions change constantly and are very difficult to predict.”
Traditional production schedules became meaningless. Instead, Tortella learnt to work day by day, sometimes planning shoots the night before, always staying flexible. “Learning to adapt quickly became an essential part of making the film.”
But that unpredictability created opportunities. By working closely with local organisations and individuals engaged in marine conservation efforts, Tortella gained early access to an unfolding story. When weather windows opened, he was ready to dive.
The project was made possible through the My World Film Grant, which provided resources to transform spontaneous moments and local collaborations into the documentary you’re about to watch.
A Story of Balance and Hope
Stone Biter takes its name from the Atlantic wolffish, a species that plays a crucial role in coastal ecosystems. The film explores the delicate balance between humans and marine wildlife, and examines what happens when that balance is disrupted—and what’s possible when people work together to restore it.
“I hope people take home the idea that working together across different levels—from small local actions to larger collective efforts—can truly make a difference,” Tortella says. “Rather than feeling overwhelmed by the scale of global challenges, the film shows that even small, hands-on actions matter, and that taking responsibility at a local level can lead to real change.”
It’s a message rooted in Tortella’s own journey from the Italian coast to Arctic waters, from observer to participant, from photographer to storyteller. Those early experiences watching diverse ecosystems exist side by side shaped a lifelong fascination with “the balance between humans and wildlife, and the power we have to either protect ecosystems or destroy them.”
And sometimes, when restoration works, the ecosystem itself lets you know—even if it means getting slapped in the face by a protective lumpfish defending its newly reclaimed home.
Images are stills taken from the film Stone Biter- all credit goes to Ismaele Tortella
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