The deep breath / Le souffle long : a film about free divers and manta rays

This is a 15-minute documentary shoot for short film festivals with an ecological and societal focus.

I will concretize 6 months of immersion in the school by filming them in real conditions on the boat and under water, in their meeting with manta rays.

The money will be used to cover the shooting during these 8 days aboard the boat.

What interests me in particular is the almost spiritual aspect of apnea. A "freediver" is in search of himself, which he meets within his limits. People who practice apnea seek and often find themselves, through a confrontation with their own inner limits that immersion in water - this "world of silence" - reveals. This search for oneself is the heart of my work of realization: what pushes these people to go under water, in apnea, with manta rays? These life courses, whose follow-up is already started thanks to individual interviews, will be enhanced by the collective dimension of the group, on the boat.

Added to this is the ecological dimension of the project: the manta rays are now classified as vulnerable by the UCIN, because of Chinese overfishing (the gills of these are supposed to have the therapeutic virtues of purification).

Finally, a feminist dimension: Marie Lorraine, at the center of the film is an intellectual woman, with a strong academic background, a sportswoman and a leader. She took her place in the rather misogynistic world of freediving, by becoming apnea instructor in Apnea Academy, an international level training. 

Marie-Lorraine

The team