Sandbox Films, XTR Team On ‘A Life Illuminated,’ Feature Doc On Pioneering Marine Biologist Edie Widder
19.12.2023 - 20:29
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Sandbox Films (Fire of Love) and XTR (Ascension) have teamed to produce feature doc A Life Illuminated, exploring the life and legacy of pioneering marine biologist Edie Widder, in association with ocean exploration nonprofit OceanX.
Set to direct the pic is Tasha Van Zandt, the filmmaker behind such award-winning documentaries as After Antarctica, about legendary polar explorer Will Steger, and One Thousand Stories, about renowned artist JR.
A Life Illuminated watches as Widder undertakes an extraordinary journey into the magical world of bioluminescence, through which she decodes the language of light that allows deep-sea life to communicate in complete darkness. It’s Widder’s unceasing need to understand and communicate with the most enigmatic forms of life on Earth that leads her to dive into the unknown, exploring the profound mysteries hidden beneath the ocean’s surface.
The film will draw upon Widder’s vast archive, from her earliest dives in deep sea submersibles, to her groundbreaking video recordings of bioluminescence in the ocean, to her work capturing the first video in history of a live giant squid in its natural habitat, to reveal the hidden worlds in our ocean and the menagerie of groundbreaking discoveries that so fascinated the scientist. At the heart of the story is Edie’s expedition aboard OceanX’s OceanXplorer, the most advanced ocean exploration vessel ever built.
In addition to Van Zandt, producers include Sebastian Zeck, Greg Boustead and Jessica Harrop of Sandbox Films (who also exec produce), and Kathryn Everett. Tate Nova is co-producing, with Alison Klayman also exec producing, alongside Ray Dalio of OceanX.
“The majority of life in the deep sea is bioluminescent, and because the