Netflix to host screening of Irish directed The Deepest Breath at Light House Cinema

Netflix are to host a screening of the captivating freediving documentary The Deepest Breath in The Light House Cinema in Smithfield on Thursday June 29. The special screening has been brought together by Netflix, Dublin International Film Festival and The Light House Cinema.

The screening will be followed by a conversation with documentary director Laura McGann, and producers Jamie D’Alton and Anne McLoughlin.

The Deepest Breath follows champion freediver Alessia Zecchini, who fell in love with the sport as a child growing up in Italy, astounding coaches with her raw talent and determination in pool swims and open water contests before she was even old enough to legally compete.

Irish adventurer turned expert safety diver Stephen Keenan, meanwhile, was raised near the sea, but as a young man he set out on a quest to find himself, travelling across Africa before landing in Dahab, Egypt and establishing a dive school.

Despite their very different paths, the two would meet at the pinnacle of the competitive freediving world, discovering a shared passion for pushing their limits and forming a powerful relationship that felt like fate.

From Irish director Laura McGann, the documentary takes a look inside one of the most dangerous sports in the world, using raw underwater dive footage as well as childhood home movies to chronicle Zecchini and Keenan’s lives and careers.

Director Laura McGann said: “The setting and emotional power of this story is what initially drew me into wanting to make this documentary. Filming around the world and with the remarkable subjects at the heart of The Deepest Breath has been the most inspirational and rewarding experience of my career.”

The documentary was produced by A24, Motive Films, Ventureland and RAW, and premiered at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

A24 are responsible for award winning films such as Lady Bird, Midsommar, Moonlight and Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, and Emmy winning series Euphoria.

The Deepest Breath will be released worldwide on Netflix on July 19, with limited theatrical release in Ireland from July 14.