A big congratulations to director Laura McGann as her powerful documentary The Deepest Breath has just won the Sports Emmy for Outstanding Long Documentary.

 

Listen back to our Film Ireland podcast, where Gemma Creagh talks to Laura McGann about this beautiful film.

 

The Deepest Breath follows champion freediver Alessia Zecchini, who fell in love with the sport as a child growing up in Italy, astounding coaches with her raw talent and determination in pool swims and open water contests before she was even old enough to legally compete. Irish adventurer turned expert safety diver Stephen Keenan, meanwhile, was raised near the sea, but as a young man he set out on a quest to find himself, traveling across Africa before landing in Dahab, Egypt and establishing a dive school. Despite their very different paths, the two would meet at the pinnacle of the competitive freediving world, discovering a shared passion for pushing their limits and forming a powerful relationship that felt like fate.

From Irish director Laura McGann, this thrilling documentary takes a look inside one of the most dangerous sports in the world, using everything from raw underwater dive footage to childhood home movies to chronicle Zecchini and Keenan’s lives and careers. The bond between them propels the film’s emotional journey into the stunning, silent depths of the ocean, a breathtaking place unseen by all but the fortunate few – where exhilarating accomplishments and unavoidable risks await.

Irish Film Review: The Deepest Breath

The Deepest Breath is in cinemas from 14th July 2023 and is available to stream on Netflix now.

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