To be an African, telling an African story, On a Global Platform. To be a Black Woman, from Soweto, growing up nowhere near the sea, my first time seeing beneath surface at the ripe age of 28 years old. 2016. To fall inlove, want to share the beauty I found with the world, qualifying as an instructor, the paper needed to grant the access needed, and run and never look back. To know representation matters, to know we cannot dream of things we have not seen, to work to create this on this platform, in the foundation, and eventually, on a global platform. I am in awe. I am reminded you can be anything you want to be, that it’s never too late to start, it’s not about where you come from, but to choose a life not defined by the confined, boundered, boxed, societal ‘normatives’ The creative freedom granted to me on this project is something I never expected, the support from the WaterBear team as a first time film maker, the support from friends family and people that didn’t even know they were plugging the pieces of the unknown. My unknown. To the production team, DOP Underwater @gareth__williams DOP Topside @rudiwildd BTS @zanderxzander Permits @wildbluevetty Charter @offshore_africa Co-Writer & Co-Producer @hlonicoleman Zulu Translation @phindilemdlalose ✨✨ To us. The collective. I’m most grateful. And yes, my eyes are wild untamed oceans currently ✨ 📸 @zanderxzander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #theblackmermaid #blackmermaid #waterbear #waterbearnetwork #film #filmmaking #filmmaker #director #filmdirector #conservation #storytelling #storytime #story #spierrefins #coralwet