Flow’s MUST WATCH List – Scuba Diving Documentaries
Written by Melanie Hwa, December 2024
Even though the Christmas & New Years celebrations are over – the festivities continues! Yes – as Malaysians, we are superbly blessed with never ending holidays and celebrations! And that only means two things – book a dive trip with us or perhaps, kick back, turn on your Netflix and relax!
And if you are a scuba diver like us, here are some really good Scuba Diving related documentaries that you MUST WATCH!
Chasing Coral
Chasing Coral is a 2017 American documentary film about a team of divers, scientists and photographers around the world who document the disappearance of coral reefs. Chasing Coral was produced by Exposure Labs and directed by Jeff Orlowski. It premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was released globally on Netflix as a Netflix Original Documentary in July 2017. Jeff Orlowski has previously directed the movie Chasing Ice in 2012 (This is on our list as well! Read till end!), which shares a similar plot to Chasing Coral.
Seaspiracy
Seaspiracy is a 2021 documentary film about the environmental impact of fishing directed by and starring Ali Tabrizi, a British filmmaker. The film examines human impacts on marine life and advocates for ending fish consumption.
The film explores environmental issues affecting oceans, including plastic pollution, ghost nets and overfishing, and argues that commercial fisheries are the main driver of marine ecosystem destruction. The film rejects the concept of sustainable fishing and criticises several marine conservation organisations, including the Earth Island Institute and its dolphin safe label and the sustainable seafood certifications of the Marine Stewardship Council. It also criticises efforts by organisations to reduce household plastic, contrasting their impact with that of ghost nets. It accuses these initiatives of being a cover-up for the environmental impact of fishing and corruption in the fishing industry. Seaspiracy concludes by supporting marine reserves and for ending fish consumption.
The Blue Planet
The Blue Planet is a British nature documentary series created and co-produced as a co-production between the BBC Natural History Unit and Discovery Channel. It premiered on 12 September 2001 in the United Kingdom. It is narrated by David Attenborough.
Described as “the first ever comprehensive series on the natural history of the world’s oceans”, each of the eight 50-minute episodes examines a different aspect of marine life. The underwater photography included creatures and behaviour that had previously never been filmed. The series won a number of Emmy and BAFTA TV awards for its music and cinematography. The executive producer was Alastair Fothergill and the music was composed by George Fenton. Attenborough narrated this series before presenting the next in his ‘Life’ series of programmes, The Life of Mammals (2002), and the same production team created Planet Earth (2006). A sequel series, Blue Planet II was aired on BBC One in 2017.
The Rescue (2021 film)
The Rescue is a 2021 documentary film directed and produced by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. It follows the Tham Luang cave rescue, a 2018 mission that saved a junior association football team from an underwater cave.
The film had its world premiere at the 48th Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2021, and was theatrically released in the United States on October 8, 2021.
My Octopus Teacher
My Octopus Teacher is a 2020 Netflix Original documentary film directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed, which documents a year spent by filmmaker Craig Foster forging a relationship with a wild common octopus in a South African kelp forest. At the 93rd Academy Awards, it won the award for Best Documentary Feature.
The Deepest Breath
The Deepest Breath is a 2023 documentary film directed and written by Laura McGann that profiles Italian freediver Alessia Zecchini on her quest to break a world record with the help of safety diver Stephen Keenan and her competition against Japanese freediver Hanako Hirose.
Last Breath (2019 film)
Last Breath is a 2019 British documentary film directed by Richard da Costa and Alex Parkinson. It relates the story of a serious saturation diving accident in 2012, when diver Chris Lemons had his umbilical cable severed and became trapped around 100 metres (330 ft) under the sea without heat or light, and with only the small amount of breathing gas in his backup tank.
Parkinson directed an upcoming feature film version of the documentary.
Puff: Wonders of the Reef
Puff: Wonders of the Reef is a 2021 Australian nature documentary film made for Netflix and directed by Nick Robinson.
Becoming Cousteau
Becoming Cousteau is a 2021 American documentary film directed and produced by Liz Garbus. It follows the life and career of Jacques Cousteau.
It premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2021, and was released on October 22, 2021, by Picturehouse.
Chasing Ice
Chasing Ice is a 2012 documentary film about the efforts of nature photographer James Balog and his Extreme Ice Survey (EIS) to publicize the effects of climate change. The film was directed by Jeff Orlowski. It was released in the United States on November 16, 2012.
The documentary includes scenes from a glacier calving event that took place at Jakobshavn Glacier in Greenland, lasting 75 minutes, the longest such event ever captured on film. Two EIS videographers waited several weeks in a small tent overlooking the glacier and, finally, witnessed 7.4 cubic kilometres (1.8 cu mi) of ice crashing off[4] the glacier. “The calving of a massive glacier believed to have produced the ice that sank the Titanic is like watching a city break apart. 