Directors word

The project began in May 2010 when cave divers Janne Suhonen and Antti Apunen approached us with their book, “Divers of the Dark”. The book is about the exploration of a huge underwater cave system under the city of Budapest, and it also provides a general overview of the field of cave diving. The book mesmerized me and I was eager to find out more.

"It occurred to me that cave divers and astronauts are really the last true explorers in the world today. Going deep inside these caves means having to rely solely on their own skills, as no GPS or other devices can reach those depths."

Cave diving is one of the most dangerous jobs and hobbies in the world, requiring a huge amount of both physical and mental strength and stamina. The more I looked into the subject, the more certain I became that there was a powerful story to be told here.

I’ve never really been keen on diving myself, but what really interests me are things like how far ambition can drive people, how much people are willing to sacrifice in order to achieve their goals, and if there’s any clear common denominator amongst people willing to risk their lives to do something they love. Questions like this became my driving force in telling this story.

Once we decided to work together, Janne and Antti hooked us up with a group of Finnish divers who were preparing to attempt a new world record for the longest cave dive. This became the main focus of the story. While the group was preparing for the dive, a terrible accident happened 130 m below the surface in an underwater cave in Norway. Two divers drowned and three miraculously survived. Obviously the accident devastated everyone involved and our film project was put on hold. But when the official recovery operation was aborted and the three survivors decided to organise their own, we were invited to join them. This obviously dramatically changed the entire storyline, however the thematic approach remained the same. We knew this would be an extraordinary mission and a powerful story, but at the same time we also knew that it would have to be captured with absolute respect for the victims and their families.

"The accident devastated everybody and our film project was put on hold."

I strongly believe that the story has all the powerful ingredients to touch people across cultural and geographical boundaries. Ultimately this is an amazingly candid story of unconditional friendship, overcoming adversity and experiencing something that really any one of us can identify with.

The idea of going to any lengths to bring your friends home is certainly noble. But this story is even more complex than that. Ultimately it asks the question: Is this something that’s worth dying for?

Director Juan Reina

Juan Reina is a director/scriptwriter who graduated from the University of Wales, Newport in 2005 and has worked in various projects in Africa, the Middle East and Europe. His films have received awards and nominations at festivals around the world, including the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and festivals in Sheffield, Buenos Aires, Tampere, Qatar and Cairo. Juan has directed films and series for National Geographic, Channel 4, YLE, and MTV3 Finland, among others. Juan’s work includes films like “Iseta- Behind the Roadblock” 2008, “Albino United” 2010, “6954 Kilometres to Home” 2013 and a six-episode documentary series for YLE called “Operation Mannerheim” 2012. “Diving into the Unknown” 2016 is his first feature-length documentary film.