By Jessica Davis, JTNews Correspondent
“Take a deep breath. Okay. Here we go,” said filmmaker Ziggy Livnat just before showing his underwater documentary, Learning to Sea at the Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle.
The award-winning film was shown to students on March 22 as part of the school’s Earth Day celebrations. The movie celebrates the marine eco-systems of the Red Sea and the Caribbean, with a word of caution about protecting the environment.
“This film was made to be both fun and educational, both for children and adults,” said Livnat.
Creatures of all behaviors, colors, shapes and sizes were filmed, from 3 ft.-150 ft. deep in the water, including dolphins, stingrays, crabs, eels, octopi and more. While making the movie, Livnat spotted a fish that he had never seen before.
“It’s very likely I discovered this fish in science,” he said.
Also featured in the movie, is a delicate 200-million-year-old coral reef that is dying from global warming and the abuses of humankind.
“Their future depends on us,” said Livnat.
He chose to film in two locations to show that, “no matter where we live, we are all connected on the same planet.”
Almost 2,000 students in Seattle, New York, Pennsylvania and Hawaii have seen Learning to Sea since it was completed about a year ago. The documentary has also appeared in a large number of film festivals, including most recently, the Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival in Leavenworth. With the movie’s success, Livnat won the Golden Eagle Award for excellence in the media, a prize that Steven Spielberg has also received.
The feature-length documentary developed from Livnat’s thesis project for his Masters in Fine Arts. He funded the project himself for about $50,000.
“This film was basically a dream that came true,” said Livnat.
Born and raised in Tel Aviv, Livnat got his start as an underwater still photographer in Israel shooting pictures of tourists at the Red Sea. At the end of the day, he ended up taking more photographs of marine life than people. Since then, he has dedicated his life to protecting the environment.
A professional still photographer for 17 years for such prestigious publications as National Geographic, this documentary was Livnat’s first experiment with motion pictures. “The hardest part was to keep the camera still,” he said.
For a whole year, Livnat practiced shooting video without even getting into the water. The documentary took about 300 dives and two years to film. About 800 hours of editing also went into making the movie.
“I was getting seasick from watching the footage,” joked Livnat.
After finishing the final cut of the movie, Livnat hired the Israeli musical group Esta to write the soundtrack. This successful group played for Bill Clinton in the White House, on Israel Independence Day.
“They did such an amazing job,” said Livnat. “The music elevated [the film] to a new level as well.”
Learning to Sea will appear in Spain next month, followed by screenings in Germany and England. Livnat hopes to make a version of it in Hebrew to show in Israel. He is also currently working on a curriculum to accompany the movie.
“The more people I get to talk to, the better,” he said. “I’m very happy with the final result.”
Livnat lives in Hawaii, where he is currently working on a public service announcement with his wife Laura about protecting wildlife. Livnat said he might also make a movie about the Puget Sound, where he observed “Olive,” a giant, six-foot-long octopus about a year ago. “It’s an amazing ecosystem down there,” he said.
For more information about “Learning to Sea,” visit www.learntosea.net. For more information about the Earth Day celebrations that continue at JDS through April 22, call 425-460-0200.