Freediver Jessea Lu can hold her breath for the entire time it would take an ordinary to read this article. And then some.
She can go without drawing breath for over six minutes at a time, part of what makes her a champion in the world of competitive freediving. It’s a sport with inherent risk – in 2018 Lu almost lost her life in an attempt to break a freediving world record.
The documentary 7 Beats Per Minute, directed by Yuqi Kang, chronicles Lu’s extraordinary accomplishments, and how she came to terms with that near-death experience. The film is making its world premiere at SXSW this Friday (March 8) in the festival’s Documentary Spotlight section. We have your first look at 7 Beats Per Minute in the trailer above.
‘7 Beats Per Minute’
National Film Board of Canada/Intuitive Pictures
“A meditative thriller set in the captivating world of competitive freediving, 7 Beats Per Minute offers an insightful look into the inner life of champion freediver, Jessea Lu (Lu Wenjie), as she pushes the limits of her body and mind,” notes a synopsis of the film. “In a deep dive, when consciousness shrinks to a singular point, any mistake can prove disastrous – a reality Jessea became all too familiar with after her world-record attempt in 2018 left her blacked out and lifeless for four minutes.”
The synopsis continues, “As Jessea tests the limits of her abilities and confronts personal demons, award-winning director Yuqi Kang showcases the woman behind the legend as she faces the darkness of her deepest subconscious head-on. As the boundaries between the filmmaker and her subject grow more fluid, the two return to the site of Jessea’s near-death experience to face the traumas of her past and find a way back to light, air, and, ultimately, connection.”
Director Yuqi Kang (L) and Jessea Lu
National Film Board of Canada/Intuitive Pictures
Director Yuqi Kang (A Little Wisdom) was learning to freedive herself when she became aware of Lu’s remarkable story. “As she descended 300 feet into the deep sea, how was she able to override her mind’s most primal survival instincts?” Kang wondered. “Who was the person behind the diving mask?”
The journey of the film ended up blurring lines between the director and her protagonist in ways neither of them anticipated.
“I do not know what my role is anymore,” the director says in the trailer. “Shouldn’t there be more distance between a filmmaker and their subject?”
In a director’s statement, Kang writes, “In the depths of the ocean, nothing exists besides the mere consciousness of oneself. At one point, it’s about letting go of that self-ego to be able to complete such an extreme dive. Like many trauma survivors, having extreme control over oneself and one’s emotions allowed Jessea to survive her early life events. Jessea had to learn to let go of the survival instinct that she knows the best. Ever since her near-death accident, Jessea realized she had missed a large part of life that is shared.
“But to share means to become vulnerable. We did not know it at the time, but the years we spent together filming 7 Beats Per Minute, unexpectedly witnessing each other grow and experiencing high-pressure diving competitions, brought Jessea and me to the rawest form of ourselves. This process was life-changing, and for the first time, I also realized that for a large part of my life, I’d also missed out on connecting with people deeply. And therefore, missed out on the real experience of life as it happened.
“By literally diving deep, Jessea is looking at who she truly is, and by following Jessea, I was also able to discover this about myself.”
National Film Board of Canada/Intuitive Pictures
In addition to Friday’s world premiere, the documentary will screen on Saturday (March 9), and Tuesday (March 12).
7 Beats Per Minute is produced by Oscar nominee Ina Fichman (Fire of Love) and Sherien Barsoum (Cynara), and co-produced by Kang. Executive producers are Fichman, Shirley Vercruysse, Anita Lee, Kate Baxter, and Neeraj Bhargava. The directors of photography are Kalina Bertin and Alex Lampron; the editor is Dominique Champagne. The score is composed by Frannie Holder, Mario Sévigny, and Lauren Bélec.
7 Beats Per Minute is a production of the National Film Board of Canada and Intuitive Pictures. Submarine is handling sales.
Watch the trailer for the documentary above.