Interview: world freediving champion and film director Julie Gautier

Few people experience the ocean like a freediver. Unencumbered by the constraints of breathing apparatus, freedivers push their bodies to the absolute limit in order to feel complete freedom and relaxation. Deep water diving is an ephemeral experience, an extreme way to see the ocean as its inhabitants do.

Julie Gautier is a French freediving champion and breath hold film director who created the short film ‘One Breath Around the World’ with her partner and fellow world-record holder Guillaume Néry. She is also one of the inspiring speakers at this year’s Transition Forum in Monaco, and she spoke to us about her passion for telling underwater stories.

Julie Gaultier

Julie, what originally drew you to the water? 

I was born on a small French Island in the middle of the Indian Ocean called La Réunion. I spent my childhood going to the beach and very early leaned to spearfish with my father. So water had always been part of my life, it is my second nature.

Why did you decide to make a career out of free-diving?

As I spent so much time in the water I was quite talented at deep freediving. It was a way to challenge myself and to prove to the world my capacities.

How long can you hold your breath for? 

When I was training I could hold my breath for up to six minutes and reach a depth of 72 metres with a monofin.

Why did you make the transition from world-champion freediver to film director? 

When I understood that going deep was more of an ego issue than a personal fulfilment, I started to ask myself what this talent could be useful for. It is actually Guillaume that found it for me. He asked me to film him in the Bahamas and we made our first film ‘Free Fall’. At that time I had never touched a camera in my life and didn’t know anything about it. But after the success of that film I understood that I was good at telling underwater stories. So I started writing and directing more projects.

In the film AMA, you are dancing at the bottom of a large pool and it seems so otherworldly. What was it like creating and featuring in that film?

I shot AMA in Italy at Y40 The deep Joy, a private pool made for freedivers. It is the deepest pool in the world at 40 metres. I love this place, I feel at home there. It is filled with a 33°C crystal clear thermal water. When I discovered that pool one year before the shoot, I knew it was the perfect place to film it. The surrounding is just so unique and pure. It was perfect to tell the story I wanted to tell.

Julie Gautier wrote, directed and performed in the short film AMA

In ‘One Breath Around the World’, Guillaume takes us on a free diving journey from the coast of Nice through to Mauritius, Mexico, Japan, French Polynesia, the Philippines and Finland. Where did the idea for this film come from? 

One Breath was Guillaume’s idea. He loves exploration and he was dreaming of going to all of these different places. It took us a long time to figure out how to make a story around this journey. We finally decided to make it a dream-like odyssey witnessing the beauty of the underwater world.

To me, it almost feels like a Tim Burton film in its eerie fascination. From a production perspective, what did you want to achieve with that film? 

This film was, first of all, a family experience. We left Nice and made a world trip with our daughter in order to share with her this experience. We had no production, just the three of us and Franck Seguin, the photographer. It is really a personal project. We had no particular plan for the film. Like always, we wanted to share it with the world by putting it on the web for free.

There is a beautiful scene of Guillaume surrounded by sharks. Have either of you ever had any close encounters with sharks or other animals while in the water? 

We filmed the sharks in Fakarava in French Polynesia, a very famous place to encounter sharks. Unfortunately there were not as many as we expected. There are too many people there trying to experience these animals and the human presence, the noise of the boats, and the pollution make them leave. It is a pity. We have to be very careful and draw a limit between the need to protect the environment and our will to encounter sea life.

And then there is the incredible scene of Guillaume swimming with sperm whales sleeping vertically in the water. How were you able to be a part of that and capture it on film?

We spent six days looking for sperm whales and it is only on the last day that we had the chance to encounter them and be accepted by this group. It was a magical moment where we really felt that we were not disturbing them and that they were completely accepting of us. We spent more than two hours with them. In the end I could not film anymore. I was fascinated by the experience I was having. I think that the fact we are in breath hold, so without a tank, makes us more quiet and more aquatic. We look and move more like underwater creatures so it is easier for us to approach these animals.

Sperm whales sleeping in a scene from the short film ‘One Breath Around the World’

The cinematography in your films feels very organic, is this because you yourself are filming while freediving? 

Yes I think when you film on breath hold you become part of water. I film as I move in the water. Like a seal I feel the currents, I use my lungs as a ballast, I make no bubbles. It is pure freedom.

You make it look so relaxed and natural under the water, but in fact you have spoken about the tension and energy that you feel because you want to make the shot perfect. Tell us about that…

Yes, of course, when you film or you act you are very focussed on what you do, on the movement, on the necessity to be stable. It is the opposite of what you look for when you do competitive freediving where all your attention is on your sensations and on relaxing completely. Pure freediving is a mediation state, filming is a creative state.

Have you seen a change in the oceans since you began spearfishing at 11 years of age? 

Yes, there are less and less fish in the sea. Since the recent campaign we made for SeaShepherd, I made the decision to stop eating fish. What is happening is too dramatic. Eating meat, fish or mammals is too easy now so people do it every day, sometimes three times a day. There is no way the planet can feed so many carnivores. If I want to eat a fish I will go to the ocean, and feel I deserve it.

Grimaldi Historic Sites: celebrating cultural ties

The 2nd annual Grimaldi Historic Sites of Monaco has taken place at the Palace Square, with special guests from the country of Matignon, the Duchy of Valentinois, the town of Roquebrune-Cap Martin and the village of Dolceacqua, Italy. More than 800 representatives from these areas attended the party.

Photo: Directorate of Communication – Manu Vitali

The event was held on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd June, with Prince Albert opening the celebration by reiterating the cultural and friendly ties between the regions.

Each invitee, in conjunction with those from the Principality, organised special events explaining the history shared with the Grimaldi family dynasty as well as with Monaco itself, offering glimpses into their own cultural and artisanal traditions. Culinary treats from their respective homes were for sale and for tasting, folk dances and performances entertained the crowds, and workshops allowed everyone to try their hands at things such as wood carving and clog-making. 

 For the kids, treasure hunts, colouring practicums, theatre presentations and games kept them amused throughout the day, culminating in a sound and light show projected onto the exterior of the palace. 

 The event was organised by Monaco Inter Expo, whose mission is to showcase the Principality at worldwide exhibitions and events and to promote goodwill with other countries and cultures.

Heat postpones diploma exams

College students in the Principality now have another few days to study for their National Diploma of the Brevet exams thanks to the current heatwave.

The Prince’s government has postponed the tests from the scheduled days of Thursday 27th and Friday 28th June, to Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd July.  The measures were taken in advance of the high heat warnings forecast for the region later this week to protect the students from unnecessary stress and possible health-related effects.

New invitations will be issued to students and teachers on Wednesday 26th June, and the new dates do not alter the order of content of the examinations.

The Department of National Education, Youth and Sports, as well as the heads of the colleges, are together reassuring parents and students that the delay is to benefit the students, allowing them the best possible conditions under which to take the tests.

Other exams scheduled for the week of 24th to 28th June are still due to take place, including the upcoming oral French test for the Baccalauréat.

 

Prince and former president dine together

The famed Le Grill at the Hôtel de Paris was the scene of a discreet and friendly dinner last Friday night between HSH Prince Albert II and the former First Couple, Barack and Michelle Obama. Other than a curiously large retinue of bodyguards hovering near the entrance, not an entirely uncommon sight in Monaco, the reunion went almost unnoticed, allowing the trio to dine virtually incognito.

Le Grill at the Hôtel de Paris, where the former president and his wife dined

The Prince had only just returned that day from a visit to Spain where he had been presenting at the award ceremony for the Spanish branch of the Prince Albert II Foundation, as well as meeting with King Felipe VI. The Obamas, holidaying in Europe with their daughters Melia and Sasha, as well as various extended family members, made a short stopover in Monaco allowing this cosy meet up to occur.

 After departing Monaco, the ex-First Family spent a day hiking in Eze, before travelling onto Lake Como where they were hosted by Actor George Clooney and his wife, Amal.

New design revealed for Fontvieille shopping centre

Fontvieille Shopping Centre new architectural design

Fontvieille will undergo a contemporary transformation with new plans which have just been approved by the Monaco Government. The current concrete shopping centre will be replaced with a futuristic structure featuring a transparent facade, lush Mediterranean greenery, colour-coded levels and wave-like curves.

World-renowned Italian architects Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksa were chosen for their design, which will integrate the commercial complex into the Mediterranean landscape.

The space will consist of five levels, each defined by a colour representing different landscape elements. The ground floor will be dominated by the colour red, Monaco’s signature hue and reminiscent of the red tiled-houses of the old town.

The first floor will be sea-blue and the second will be lavender, something which is synonymous with the south of France and Provence.

To represent surrounding architecture, the third floor will take on an ochre tone, while the top floor will be dedicated to grey, an ode to the rocky outcrops of the French Riviera. Here, a garden of about one hectare in size will be filled with pines, oaks and other Mediterranean species, as well as walking trails for visitors.

Inconspicuously passing underneath the commercial centre will be the main access road Avenue Albert II, while a new pedestrian crossing will connect visitors to the port.

The project is expected to take over two years to complete and cost around 140 million euros. A start date is yet to be revealed.

 

 

The Black Diamond fashion show shines

The Grimaldi Forum Monaco has been dazzled by the presentation of the Maison Arleoni new limited edition haute couture collection ‘Black Diamond’, signed by the art director Angelica Arleoni.

The Black Diamond Collection of unique pieces has inner roots of haute couture technics from the past through to the future within modernity elaborations which, according to its creator, become master pieces of art. As well the endearing brightness of the Black Diamonds, gender fluidity played a part of the central story in the Black Diamond Collection.

Superb structured shapes captured the eyesight and pieces were revealing from every angle. Sophisticated materials and fabulous elaborations enhanced the beautiful bones of the fascinating diamond cut-inspired patterns.

There was a balanced combination of various shades of black with all the chromatic harmony, characterised by intense and evocative charm as an absolute ”Poésie de l’émotion”.

On show were 32 hand tailored and jewel-like embroidered outfits of the Black Diamond Collection.