THE DAILY JAWS COMMUNITY PRAISE "INSPIRATIONAL" PLAYING WITH SHARKS

A breathtaking documentary about the life and career of diver and conservationist, Valerie Taylor, by National Geographic has just dropped on Disney Plus.

Taylor, along with her late husband Ron, also filmed the live action shark sequence in Jaws.

And a group The Daily Jaws followers were amongst the first to view the film when it received its virtual premiere, earlier this week.

Here's what some of them had to say about the film.

Daniel Carver, from the UK, said:

'Playing With Sharks was an exceptional tribute to the life of Ron and Val Taylor and was fantastically put together. The film really captured the passion the Taylors had for shark conservation and in general thier love of the ocean. Packed full of beautiful footage and photography it really was a joy to watch. "

Michael Upton, writing as @Psychojography on Twitter, posted: Playing With Sharks -The Valerie Taylor Story captures the sheer glamour & adventure of an incredible career from spearfishing through film into activism, balanced by a powerful conservation message in its depiction of the brutal treatment of sharks by humans. #playingwithsharks

That shift in understanding was also something that Kristian Parton of the Shark Bytes YouTube channel - and our very own Matt Hooper - also focused on in his comments.

He said: "Valerie’s shift in psychology was incredibly powerful to see on screen, from being an avid spearfisher and even killing a shark, to putting the spears down and becoming one of their greatest advocates.

"The film is a stunning collection of video footage pieced together from her life and tells the story of how sharks came to be so maligned, and how those perceptions may have contributed to population declines in sharks across the world. Valerie’s fight was often not just based around sharks, but also against sexism and misogyny in her line of work.

"The struggles she faces in the film are clear to see, but the overall tone provides hope to all out there who are striving to make the world a better place, and that you can do anything, if you put your mind to it."

Ross was also lucky enough to get some (virtual) time speaking to Valerie, as well as the director Sally Aitken and Bettina Dalton, producer of the this stunning new documentary.

Playing With Sharks is now streaming on Disney Plus.

Words by Dean Newman

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