
The Coelacanth, a dive into our origins
Documentary
Overview
Gombessa Expedition 1 To dive for the Coelacanth is to go back in time. In 1938, when it was known only as a fossil, a Coelacanth was discovered in South Africa in a fisherman's net. This species bears witness to an evolutionary bifurcation 380 million years ago, and bears the marks of a great event: the day the fish left the ocean for the open air. Does it hold the secret to the transition to walking on land? In 2010, a marine biologist and outstanding diver, Laurent Ballesta, took the first photographs of the Coelacanth in its ecosystem. In April 2013, divers and researchers set down their equipment at the Sodwana base camp in South Africa, in the club founded by Peter Timm (who died in 2014). Six weeks of extreme diving at depths of over 120 meters, in an attempt to film the Coelacanth with a double-headed camera, collect its DNA and tag a subject with a satellite-linked beacon...
Top Cast


Laurent Ballesta
Laurent Ballesta
Self - Plongeur, photographe, biologiste marin
Laurent Ballesta
Self - Plongeur, photographe, biologiste marin
Gaël Clément
Gaël Clément
Self - Paléontologue au Muséum d’histoire naturelle de Paris
Gaël Clément
Self - Paléontologue au Muséum d’histoire naturelle de Paris


Peter Timm
Peter Timm
Self - Plongeur, fondateur du Trimix, Afrique du Sud
Peter Timm
Self - Plongeur, fondateur du Trimix, Afrique du Sud
Emmanuel Blanche
Emmanuel Blanche
Self - Médecin hyperbare de l'expédition " Gombessa 1 "
Emmanuel Blanche
Self - Médecin hyperbare de l'expédition " Gombessa 1 "
Florian Holon
Florian Holon
Self - Plongeur de l'expédition " Gombessa 1 "
Florian Holon
Self - Plongeur de l'expédition " Gombessa 1 "


Thibault Rauby
Thibault Rauby
Self - Biologiste, plongeur de l'expédition " Gombessa 1 "
Thibault Rauby
Self - Biologiste, plongeur de l'expédition " Gombessa 1 "


Yanick Gentil
Yanick Gentil
Self - Cameraman sous-marin, plongeur de l'expédition " Gombessa 1 "
Yanick Gentil
Self - Cameraman sous-marin, plongeur de l'expédition " Gombessa 1 "
Marc Herbin
Marc Herbin
Self - Spécialiste de la locomotion des vertebrés, CNRS / MNHN
Marc Herbin
Self - Spécialiste de la locomotion des vertebrés, CNRS / MNHN
Kerry Sink
Kerry Sink
Self - Chercheur au The South African Institute Aquatic Biodiversity
Kerry Sink
Self - Chercheur au The South African Institute Aquatic Biodiversity


Cédric Gentil
Cédric Gentil
Self - Logisticien de l'expédition " Gombessa 1 "
Cédric Gentil
Self - Logisticien de l'expédition " Gombessa 1 "
Similar Movies
This films reveals the extraordinary variety of life found in the vast blue expanses of the open ocean. Here, all the action takes place in a 10 metre deep band of water, just under the surface. Many species use this section of water to migrate and hunt while others use ingenious ways to stay hidden where there appears to be no shelter.

Atlantis is filmmaker Luc Besson's celebration of the beauty and wonder of the world beneath the sea, expanding upon themes touched on in his film The Big Blue. Combining stunning underwater cinematography and a hypnotic score by Eric Serra, Besson's singular vision defies dialogue or narrative structure to explore ocean life as you've never seen it before. Following the colossal success of The Big Blue, Luc Besson crisscrossed the world's seas and oceans to film the beauty and diversity of marine life: from the giant octopuses of Vancouver to the manta rays of the Pacific (New Caledonia), and the grey sharks of Tahiti. A film with no actors or sets other than the underwater world. A breathtaking view of marine species: sharks, dolphins, manatees, octopuses. An exploration of the seabed in the Bahamas, the Galapagos, Vancouver, and Tahiti.

From the Los Angeles Times and Pulitzer Prize-finalist Rosanna Xia, OUT OF PLAIN SIGHT is a cinematic exposé of an environmental disaster lurking just off the coast of Southern California. Not far from Catalina Island, aboard one of the most-advanced research ships in the world, David Valentine discovered a corroded barrel on the seafloor that gave him chills. The full environmental horror sharpens into greater clarity once he calls Xia, who pieces together a shocking revelation: In the years after World War II, as many as half a million barrels of toxic waste had been quietly dumped into the ocean – and the consequences continue to haunt the world today.

AT SEA is a visceral and poetic short film that blends docu-style realism with narrative fiction, following a group of faceless sailors navigating the unpredictable seas of Greece. Through the fragmented memories of an unreliable narrator, the film weaves together a non-linear story that shifts in mood with each chapter, offering a fresh perspective on the sea. Based on true events… almost.

Narrated by Academy Award winners Sissy Spacek and Herbie Hancock, River of Gold is the disturbing account of a clandestine journey into Peru's Amazon rainforest to uncover the savage unraveling of pristine jungle. What will be the fate of this critical region of priceless biodiversity as these extraordinarily beautiful forests are turned into a hellish wasteland?

What would your family reminiscences about dad sound like if he had been an early supporter of Hitler’s, a leader of the notorious SA and the Third Reich’s minister in charge of Slovakia, including its Final Solution? Executed as a war criminal in 1947, Hanns Ludin left behind a grieving widow and six young children, the youngest of whom became a filmmaker. It's a fascinating, maddening, sometimes even humorous look at what the director calls "a typical German story." (Film Forum)














