HLD Mediterranean, Odyssey for life

March 7, 2023
ESG
Fonds HLD Méditerranée
A spectacular, inspiring and ... educational mural! Frédéric Fougea's new film, produced with the support of the HLD Fund for the Mediterranean, is at once a spectacular documentary, a life story and an educational awareness program. Indeed, through this immersive and captivating story, Frédéric Fougea intends to convey strong messages to viewers and to offer teachers, within the framework of the Life and Earth Sciences programs, an educational tool to share with middle and high school students the growing environmental challenges in the Mediterranean.
“The Mediterranean, a "hot spot" for global biodiversity”

A gash in the earth’s crust between Africa, Asia and Europe, the Mediterranean is home to 10% of biodiversity even though it represents less than 1% of the surface of the oceans. And yet, this living, rich and surprising world is increasingly weakened: 20-meter-long whales, thousand-year-old Posidonia seagrass beds, bluefin tuna and turtles… are all species threatened by growing impact of human activities.

And for “good reason”: with a very densely populated coastline, 30% of world maritime traffic and more than 300 million tourists per year (on land or on water), the Mediterranean is subject to very heavy pollution of human origin. For example, it is estimates that with more than 200,000 tonnes of plastic waste dumped each year, it is the sea with the most microplastics on the planet.

Also, with the support of the Fonds HLD pour la Méditerranée, the film Méditerranée, l’odyssée pour la vie contributes to raising awareness and changing our behavior, to preserve the fragile ecosystems of the Mediterranean.

We protect what we love!

« I am deeply convinced that beauty and wonder are necessary to carry the ecological message. If we are not amazed, we have no empathy”. Frédéric Fougea made no mistake about it and gives us a story to which we cannot remain insensitive.

And to achieve this wonderful storytelling, the filming required 50 scientists, 15 co-authors, 12 co-directors, 40 camera operators, a team of several hundred people and 4 years of work in fifteen countries!

This is undoubtedly the price of wonder as much as that of hope: At sea, on land and in the air, the film offers a fascinating journey into the daily lives of animals and plants that have adapted… and that we intend to defend!

“From theaters... to classrooms”

If the film required advanced technical means and a lot of inventiveness to shoot in delicate conditions underwater or in the air, this new documentary by Frédéric Fougea nourishes an even broader ambition: to invest cinemas as much as the classrooms!

Designed as an awareness program, Méditerranée, l’odyssée pour la vie is deployed this Monday, March 6 in schools with the help of Middle and High School teachers, in particular as part of the Life and Earth Sciences programs.

Teachers and students thus have at their disposal a pedagogical support of choice (poster, educational file, dedicated site, etc.) but also the possibility of organizing cinema sessions for their classes everywhere in Metropolitan France and Corsica (https://forms.gle/tENAiP9FY4v3dtcS9).

The sit https://www.mediterranee-lefilm.com/ offers all the tools necessary for understanding, awareness and action!

“The Mediterranean, a structuring subject for HLD”

Created in 2018, the Fonds HLD pour la Méditerranée supports initiatives to protect the marine environment in the Mediterranean and each year finances projects for public awareness and education, scientific research and the restoration of marine environments.

A structuring patronage for the Group, the Fonds HLD pour la Méditerranée naturally chose to support Frédéric Fougea in creating Méditerranée, l’odyssée pour la vie and thus contribute to protecting ecosystems, biodiversity and this breathtaking heritage that is the Mediterranean.