The Shipwreck of La Belle

Directed by Alan Govenar

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Details: The Shipwreck of La Belle (Le Naufrage de la Belle) 1998, 52 minutes, color, Producer: Documentary Arts co-production with La Sept/ARTE; Director: Alan B. Govenar; Writer: Alan Govenar and Andrew Dean; Cinematography: Robert Tullier; Editor: Andrew Dean

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The 1995 excavation of La Belle, buried beneath Matagorda Bay off the coast of Texas for more than three centuries, is among the most significant archeological discoveries in North America.

Through an unprecedented recovery effort by the Texas Historical Commission, including the construction of a cofferdam and the pumping out of more than 300,000 gallons of water, the ill-fated expedition in 1684 by French explorer René-Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle comes to life.

The Shipwreck of La Belle tracks the process of the recovery of La Belle from the first dives to the dismantling of the hull and the conservation of thousands of artifacts.

Funded by the Texas Historical Commission, Florence Gould Foundation, Trull Foundation, and Summerlee Foundation, co-produced with La Sept/Arte for primetime broadcast in 20 French and German speaking countries in 1998-2000 and developed as a co-production with NOVA and WGBH-TV in Boston for primetime broadcast in the United States in 1999-2001. Reversion by Channel 4 Films for national broadcast in the British Isles, 2001 and broadcast worldwide as part of the National Geographic Explorer Series.

Le Prix Spécial du Jury, 16th Festival International de l’Emission Scientifique de Télévision Palamarès, France Mention Speciale du Jury, Festival International du Film Scientifique de Palaiseau