Kildare director wins Emmy for Netflix doc on free diving

Congratulations to Kildare-born director Laura McGann and Irish production company Motive TV for winning The Sports Emmy for Outstanding Long Documentary for their Netflix documentary, The Deepest Breath.

 The Deepest Breath, written and directed by Newbridge native McGann, is a co-production between Jamie D’Alton and Anne McLoughlin of Motive Films and John Battsek and Sarah Thomson of Ventureland. 

Set in the world of ocean diving, the film follows Italian freediver Alessia Zecchini on her quest to break a world record in freediving, a dangerous extreme sport in which competitors attempt to reach the greatest depth without the use of scuba gear. 

Freedivers are often subject to blackouts upon ascent, necessitating the help of safety divers like Stephen Keenan, a free-spirited Irish adventurer who fell in love with the sport in Dahab, Egypt. 

Producers described it as an exhilarating, beautiful and intensely moving film.