The Coelacanth, a dive into our origins
A unique human adventure and a media-worthy scientific project
91 mins
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...
Gaël Clément
Self - Paléontologue au Muséum d’histoire naturelle de Paris
Emmanuel Blanche
Self - Médecin hyperbare de l'expédition " Gombessa 1 "
Florian Holon
Self - Plongeur de l'expédition " Gombessa 1 "
Marc Herbin
Self - Spécialiste de la locomotion des vertebrés, CNRS / MNHN
Kerry Sink
Self - Chercheur au The South African Institute Aquatic Biodiversity
Mélanie Faye
Narrator (voice)
Gil Kébaïli
Writer
Gil Kébaïli
Director
Jacques Hinstin
Executive Producer
Angus Paterson
Scientific Consultant
Emmanuel Blanche
Medical Consultant
Marc Herbin
Scientific Consultant
Hugo Dutel
Scientific Consultant
Kerry Sink
Scientific Consultant
Rose Thornycroft
Scientific Consultant
Régis Debruyne
Scientific Consultant
Marc A. Hayek
Thanks
Charlène Letenneur
Graphic Designer
Gaël Clément
Scientific Consultant
Russel Chalmers
Scientific Consultant
Simon Dubois
Sound Editor
Alain Delamuraz
Thanks
Thierry Decamps
Scientific Consultant
Alexios Kitsopoulos
Thanks
Gil Kébaïli
Camera Operator
David Berdah
Legal Services
Paul Cowley
Scientific Consultant
Barbara Brou
Still Photographer
Jean-Benoît Charrassin
Scientific Consultant
Simon Dubois
Sound Mixer
Rémi Berge
Color Grading
Yann Rineau
Camera Operator
Stéphane Lopez
Original Music Composer
Angèle Le Névé
Production Director
Olivier Chasle
Camera Operator
Denis Batardière
Editor