Night Of The Crabs - Short Documentary - USA

Director Elyas Masrour

One cool summer night, an assorted group of citizen scientists take on the task of helping a peculiar species with unique characteristics- the Horseshoe Crab. Take a journey through history to learn more about the plight of the Horseshoe Crab, where it came from, and how modern science is both helping and hurting their chances of survival.

I'm a 17-year-old Moroccan-American filmmaker from Long Island, New York.. I've worked on everything from short documentaries, to indie features, to animated shorts and fictional podcasts.

My debut film was a short documentary on an endangered species of bird at my local beach. Three years later, I returned to the same beach with more confidence, better skills, and a desire to tell the story of another species in danger- the Horseshoe Crab.

AniFab judge's aggregate score for Night Of The Crabs is 7.3 out of 10 with one judge commenting, "An important short film about the Horseshoe Crab.  I believe the most impactful point for me was the outsized roll humans have had on the decimation of a population of species that has been occupying earth for more than 455 million years.  Dinosaurs went extinct a little more than 86 million years ago following the last mass extinction, yet the Horseshoe Crab survived, until humans came along at least. Powerful short by a talented young filmmaker."