John Yang:
Imagine scuba diving without a breathing apparatus, diving down hundreds of feet on a single breath and holding it for as long as three minutes. That's freediving and extreme sport that's growing in popularity and interest.
The risks are high, some freediving sponsor considered as deadly as Mount Everest. A documentary called The Deepest Breath is now streaming on Netflix. It goes inside the sport following two freedivers, Alessia Zecchini and Steven Keenan. It is both mesmerizing and terrifying to watch.
Earlier I spoke with Laura McGann the film's director, I asked her what drew her to the project.
Laura McGann, Director, "The Deepest Breath": I read about Steven and Alessia in 2017. And, and initially, I didn't know what freediving was. So I had to Google what is freediving. And I was mapped by these incredible images of people swimming underwater, almost like a seal or a dolphin. Like with a seemingly without the urge to breathe.
I couldn't believe it. Like I couldn't believe that this was something that people could do, that humans were capable of. But then over time, as I learned more about Steven and Alessia, that's when the story, the gravity of the story and how universal it was, you know, it really just inspired me it made me feel like God, am I living my life to the fullest? You know.
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