Mark Andrews

Deon Dreyer

Theo Dreyer

Jonah Malak

Two friends, Don and Dave were diving in the cave of Boesmansgat: 283 meters. Right before surfacing up, Dave - who&apos;d just broken a world record - finds a body. They decide to dive back and retrieve it.

Dave Not Coming Back

TENACIOUS D

Spoiler alert: don&apos;t read the title.

The life of scuba divers in search of depth seems more like a death wish. So why the hell tempt fate for what appears to be very little reward? That question is never really answered, yet we are introduced to several characters who unflinchingly espouse their devotion and unwavering dedication to the activity.

Boesmansgat is a deepwater submerged fresh water cave that punctures the South African Kalahari Desert. It is the monster&apos;s mouth that invites intrepid divers to test their mettle. It is where records are set. It is where people die. In 1994 twenty year old Deon Dryer perished there. A decade later Dave Shaw discovered the body at 270m. Shortly after, he enlisted friend and fellow diver Don Shirley for a recovery mission. This is the story of Deon, Dave and Don. You can&apos;t write this stuff.

As documentaries go, revealing a large part of the mystery from the get go is unusual practice, but here it works. Splicing original footage of the recovery dive, with re-enactments, director John Malak avoids the creepy sensationalism television favours, unfolding the story in a tense, beautiful and technical manner befitting the subject matter. The intricate preparation, endless logistical details and a spider web of planning is extraordinary, but when things go wrong, it is the in situ reaction of the team that ramps up the drama.

Diving down is easy, coming back up is not. Same with this movie.


* hipcRANK


Two high level scuba-divers and long-time friends, Don and Dave, broke a world record for depth in the Boesmansgat cave in South Africa. It would take them 15 minutes to reach the bottom, but 12 hours to surface. Having reached the bottom, against all odds, they find a body. They decide to come back and retrieve it. They call the parents, enrol 8 fellow divers, and hire a cameraman to document the dive. The camera will follow them throughout the preparation and the dive, including to the bottom of the cave. Little did they know that on that historic dive, Dave would not be coming back. In this time of over-performance driven by self-promotion and self-filming comes Boesmansgat, a story of loss and mourning where egoism and altruism, hubris and self-control, risk-taking and spirituality all go hand in hand. A cascade of choices and tense paradoxes that lead to a tragedy long foreseen, yet impossible to prevent.

Official Trailer

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYzkwYzlmZWUtNjY4My00ZDNlLWEyNjAtMDc3NTk0NDMzOWMxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXRyYW5zY29kZS13b3JrZmxvdw@@._V1_.jpg

Spoiler alert: don't read the title.

The life of scuba divers in search of depth seems more like a death wish. So why the hell tempt fate for what appears to be very little reward? That question is never really answered, yet we are introduced to several characters who unflinchingly espouse their devotion and unwavering dedication to the activity.

Boesmansgat is a deepwater submerged fresh water cave that punctures the South African Kalahari Desert. It is the monster's mouth that invites intrepid divers to test their mettle. It is where records are set. It is where people die. In 1994 twenty year old Deon Dryer perished there. A decade later Dave Shaw discovered the body at 270m. Shortly after, he enlisted friend and fellow diver Don Shirley for a recovery mission. This is the story of Deon, Dave and Don. You can't write this stuff.

As documentaries go, revealing a large part of the mystery from the get go is unusual practice, but here it works. Splicing original footage of the recovery dive, with re-enactments, director John Malak avoids the creepy sensationalism television favours, unfolding the story in a tense, beautiful and technical manner befitting the subject matter. The intricate preparation, endless logistical details and a spider web of planning is extraordinary, but when things go wrong, it is the in situ reaction of the team that ramps up the drama.

Diving down is easy, coming back up is not. Same with this movie.


* hipcRANK


Two friends, Don and Dave were diving in the cave of Boesmansgat: 283 meters. Right before surfacing up, Dave - who'd just broken a world record - finds a body. They decide to dive back and retrieve it.

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Dave Not Coming Back

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