Prada Ambassador Benedict Cumberbatch stars in the first of a pair of films created by National Geographic CreativeWorks, Prada’s storytelling partner for the fourth year, exploring the Prada Re-Nylon initiative and the SEA BEYOND educational project, conducted in partnership with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO.
For this first film, Cumberbatch meets with Elisabetta Zavoli, photojournalist, award-winning documentary photographer and SEA BEYONDer (Goodwill Ambassador of the project), to explore the waters around Japan’s Izu Peninsula. Just two hours from Tokyo, these waters teem with marine life - shaped by powerful ocean currents and dramatic geology that create a uniquely rich and dynamic underwater environment.
As of July 2023, 1% of the proceeds from the Prada Re-Nylon for SEA BEYOND Collection benefit SEA BEYOND, the project by Prada Group conducted in partnership with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. #PradaReNylon#Prada
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I've always found solace being in nature and to me diving is a special kind of immersion,
a literal immersion into a world that feels both strange and familiar.
After all it's where we came from, like all of life. You know standing here with this coastline
it's hard to believe that we're just two hours from Tokyo, a mega city of what 14 million people?
Yeah, up until the 19th century most of Japan's coastal ecosystems would have been as pristine
as this place. But two centuries of development have obviously changed that. I mean it feels to
me that we're at a crucial point where we have an opportunity to recalibrate our relationship
with the ocean and I think a key way of doing that moving forward is to reconnect with it.
Japan's culture and geography is shaped by the ocean. It harbours one of the world's most
dynamic and species-rich marine environments. I think when you spend time in nature
you feel a natural urge to protect it.
When I first went to Sumida Aquarium, I remember there were lots of jellyfish and
it was such a sparkling place. I think that's why I've come to love the ocean even more.
I learned that I can do things that I can do to reduce marine plastic waste.
I'm happy that so many people are thinking about the environment.
Thanks to Sakana Kun and SD Blue Earth, we know that if we take care of the ocean,
the ocean will take care of us.
Why did you start the Sakana Kun exploration team?
I always get a lot of energy and inspiration from the ocean.
When you have an exploration team, you can understand a lot of things.
I'd like to encourage young children to explore the ocean with a lot of love.
I'd like to encourage them to understand what's going on in the ocean.
I learned about this concept here in Japan called Satomi,
which is where coastal communities' interaction actually benefits the ocean's health as well as their own.
It's completely reciprocal, symbiotic, and that's how it should be. I love that.
And that's why it's so important to provide young people with opportunities to actually connect with the ocean.
And it's why I love being a Sea Beyond ambassador.
Sea Beyond, a Prada Group project in partnership with UNESCO,
is providing children around the world with the knowledge and tools they need to understand the ocean and protect it.
