DocLands Film Festival 2021 presents a conversation with 'Playing with Sharks' Director Sally Aitken, Producer Bettina Dalton and Film Subject Valerie Taylor, with DocLands Director of Programming, Joni Cooper.

As a young woman, Australian Valerie Taylor was a champion diver and spearfisher. Later, along with her husband, she became one of the first people to film great white sharks without the protection of a cage and was hired by Steven Spielberg to shoot the real shark sequences for 'Jaws'. But ironically, just as millions of people were watching these movies and becoming deathly afraid of sharks, Taylor’s love for the ocean was leading her in a different direction. As filmmaker Sally Aitken unfolds the many layers of Taylor’s fascinating life, we learn of her pioneering work in ocean conservation. Fighting for the protection of marine sites around the world and advocating tirelessly to prevent the senseless hunting of sharks are now the driving forces in her life. But Taylor, now in her 80s, still finds time to dive and play with the sharks.

About DOCLANDS
Presented by the California Film Institute, DocLands Documentary Film Festival brings compelling stories and the provocative insights behind them to Marin County, California May 7-16, 2021. Expanding upon the exchange of ideas and inspiration through public screenings, engaged conversations and grassroots networking events, DocLands aims to build an active, involved, fully supportive community around documentary film, dedicated to initiating connections and partnerships that will illuminate and invigorate the business and art of non-fiction filmmakers.

DOCLANDS Sections
Art of Impact engages and sparks action by sharing stories that open our eyes to the global community and its disparate cultures, politics, personal narratives, and biographies.

The Great Outdoors transports us outside to truly appreciate, explore, and ultimately compel us to save and conserve our environment and the wilds of our precious and precarious planet.

WonderLands lifts our spirits through stories of joy, wonder, and possibility.

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