Playing with Sharks

The extraordinary life story of pioneering scuba diver, Valerie Taylor, a fearless marine maverick whose passion for sharks knows no bounds – even when there should be. Taylor is a living legend and icon in the diving world. A glamorous shark hunter in the 1950s, she was a champion with deadly aim before a personal epiphany transformed her into a passionate marine conservationist – specifically for the ocean’s scariest creature, the shark. Long before anyone else, Valerie dared to get close, swimming against the tide of the human perception of sharks and putting herself on the front line for over 70 years.

Featuring a stranger-than-fiction script, a magnetic heroine, the making of Jaws, and that most charismatic and terrifying of screen creatures, sharks, this powerful and visually sumptuous 90-minute feature documentary draws on incredible re-mastered film footage captured over 50 years. Through her life's arc, we go on a journey of new understandings, from fear to respect and admiration of these complex, majestic creatures. Valerie Taylor is a formidable woman who forged her own adventure story in a male dominated world. Valerie’s passion to change the human perceptions of sharks transformed scientific knowledge and our understanding of these magnificent apex predators.