VERO BEACH —Environmental and cultural filmmaker Celine Cousteau makes documentaries about grassroots organizations and individuals who are doing things to help people and the planet.
“My films are cause-centric,” she says. “I hand people a megaphone so they can be heard.”
The granddaughter of ocean explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, one of the great pioneers of the post-WWII world, who basically invented underwater film-making and did more than any other person to make people aware of the wonder and beauty beneath the waves, Celine Cousteau will be the second speaker in the Planet and Oceans lecture series sponsored by ORCA.
“I will take the audience on an ocean exploration adventure, using short film and photographs to tell stories about people I have met along the way and animals I have encountered,” says Cousteau, who will speak Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at the Emerson Center.
Though she grew up in America and does not speak with a French accent, the 40-year-old filmmaker, author and activist lives in Provence with her husband and one-year-old son. She is one of four Cousteaus in her generation carrying on her grandfather’s work exploring and trying to protect the oceans.
“Each of us has different methods and specialties,” she says of herself, her brother Fabien and two oceaneering cousins. “But I think it is a true testament to my grandfather as an inspirational person that we have all chosen to continue his work.”
Cousteau, who has degrees from Skidmore College and the School for International Training, explored the world with her grandfather and father, Jean-Michel Cousteau, founder of the Ocean Futures Society, from the time she was a little girl.
She says the Amazon – which she has made a full-length documentary about – is one of her favorite places.
“I was there with my grandfather when I was young and formed a real attachment with those memories, and I went back in 2006 and 2007 with my father. It is a place I have a real affinity for.”
Besides film-making and exploring, Cousteau gives lectures, writes children’s books and serves as an environmental consultant for two travel companies.
She has worked as field producer, on-camera presenter and photographer on numerous television documentaries including the successful PBS series “Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures,” CBS’s “Mind of a Demon” and Discovery Channel’s “Mysteries of the Shark Coast.”
Cousteau, who speaks three languages, most recently hosted a 12-part documentary series produced by Chilean based NuevoEspacio Producciones, called “Oceano: Chile Frente al Mar,” during which she explored both diving underwater and trekking on land from Antarctica to northern Chile and westward to Easter Island.
The oceans are severely threatened by human impacts, including pollution and overfishing, and Cousteau says getting people who do not live near the coast to care about their impact on the ocean is one of the biggest challenges environmentalists face.
“How do you get people to take action who don’t have a direct connection?” she says. “You have to find a way to make it relevant in order to get people to change their behavior.”
Another challenge is making people aware of dangers to the oceans and damage that has already been done without causing despair.
“You have to give people hope if you want to inspire them to work for change,” she says.
Cousteau will speak at the Emerson Center at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 20. For more information or tickets go to http://theemersoncenter.org/ or call the Emerson Center box office at 772-778-5249.
