After a long absence, José Fortes returns home to Cape Verde to find his community transformed. The fish that have provided income and food for generations are disappearing from the sea, and people are being forced to sell the sand from their beaches just to survive. The reasons for this are all around the archipelago: European vessels returning home with fish from Cape Verdean waters.

Sandgrains is a crowdfunded documentary produced under a creative commons license. The project draws on support, talent and expertise through interactive web technology and social networks. It uses crowd-funding and crowd-sourcing as its production strategy and reaches out to a global audience that performs a vital role in driving the project.