Factual America examines America through the lens of documentary filmmaking. Guests include Academy Award, Emmy and Grammy-winning documentary filmmakers and producers, their subjects, as well as experts on the American experience. Find out more about the current and upcoming documentaries on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Sky Documentaries and other platforms directly from the creators. Whether we discuss true crime, music, burning social and political topics, history, or arts, Factual America is your #1 documentary film podcast. Factual America is produced by Alamo Pictures, a London- and Austin-based production company that makes documentaries about the US from a European perspective for international audiences.
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episode 78: Becoming Cousteau: Legendary Explorer and Environmentalist
The National Geographic documentary Becoming Cousteau explores the life of legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, a man well ahead of his time in bringing climate change and environmental devastation to the world’s attention.
Mridu Chandra, award-winning filmmaker and one of the producers of Becoming Cousteau, joins us to discuss Cousteau's remarkable life and passion for the environment. A scuba diving pioneer, Cousteau also was an accomplished filmmaker and three-time Oscar winner.
Mridu talks about the challenges that she and director Liz Garbus faced in making a film using only archival footage, and how Garbus was keen to bring Cousteau's story to life.
“Throughout his life, he was always ahead, and when it came to his environmentalism, it stemmed from his genuine passion, being an honest witness and decades of experience.” - Mridu Chandra