"The Dolphin Man" - coming to Polish cinema screens

On Friday, 17 August 2018, the film describing the story of the legendary Jacques Mayol – “The Dolphin Man” – comes to Polish cinemas. The film’s distributor in our country is Against Gravity.

Mayol is considered a pioneer and one of the most accomplished free divers in history.He also holds many world records to his credit. His complicated personal life, passion for the deep, commitment to ocean conservation and extensive knowledge of dolphins inspired Luc Besson’s cult film The Big Blue. Now we have the opportunity to get to know him even better.

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The film takes us on a fascinating journey inside the underwater world, immersing us in the sensual and frontier experience of free diving. We travel through Japan, Miami, Marseille, the Caicos Islands, Kalymnos and Elba. Diving allowed Mayol to reach the limits of the human body and discover the deep bond between man and the sea.

“The Dolphin Man” weaves together stunning contemporary underwater photography by true masters with intimate commentaries by Mayol’s friends, family and freediving world record holders. Narrated by Jean-Marc Barr – who played Mayol’s role in ‘The Big Blue’.

Jacques Mayol was the first diver to introduce yoga as part of his freediving training. What did he write about it in his book “Homo Delphinus”? “By ‘forgetting’ their ego, yogis are able to unite with the All, with the great ‘Universal Consciousness’.

The ultimate goal of yoga is to reach a state of intuitive enlightenment or absolute ecstasy. Breathlessness in free diving, is a tool to find oneself in such a state of ecstasy. Alternate breathing, from one nostril to the other, can be considered the ‘key’ breathing of yoga.

Director Lefteris Charitos on the film:

“The Dolphin Man” is the story of a charismatic man who shared his life between land and water, reminding us how closely we are connected to the sea. Sportsman, philosopher and adventure lover Jacques Mayol travelled the world, winning fans by telling us about our need to reconnect with nature.

The film focuses on the most important questions of human existence. Death, the limitations of our bodies, returning to Mother Nature, the pitfalls of ambition and fame, achieving a balance of body and soul through meditation: these are the leitmotifs of Mayol’s life that form the basis of the film’s narrative.

“Dolphin Man” engages the viewer on an emotional and sensory level. For Mayol, diving has always been an attempt to balance body and mind. We share the experience with him, plunging to great depths where there is a still darkness that simultaneously frightens and fills with peace, and together we return to the stunning light on the surface.

This sensory journey is made possible by modern technology, allowing the world’s best divers to be filmed underwater, giving us a chance to see what happens to the human body and mind at great depths.

It is a simultaneous exploration of the immense beauty of the places that changed Mayol’s life, such as the Bahamas, Elba, the coast of Tateyama in Japan or the Aegean Islands in Greece, and the unique texture of rare films shot on 16mm film by the pioneers among the post-war cameramen who recorded Mayol’s story and created a record of his adventures.

Greece, Canada, France, Japan / 2017 78 min.
Polish premiere: 17 August 2018
Directed by: Lefteris Charitos
Photography : Stelios Apostolopoulos GSC
Production : Anemon Productions, Les Films du Balibari, Storyline Entertainment Inc.
Narrator : Jean-Marc Barr
Producers : Arte, Wowow, Ert, Greek Film Centre

Source: Against Gravity

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