The new documentary film "Atlantis Rising" premieres soon on National Geographic. It centers on an underwater search for evidence of the mythical lost city and civilization of Atlantis.
Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron is the executive producer. He worked with an investigative filmmaker, scientists, divers, marine archaeologists, and team leader Dr. Richard Freund, the Maurice Greenberg Professor of Jewish History at the University of Hartford.
Freund has helped to develop technology used in underwater archaeological expeditions.
WNPR spoke to Freund and asked him about society's fascination with Atlantis.
Dr. Richard Freund: It wasn’t something that I’d been searching for my whole life. But it's one of those kinds of Holy Grail items because we have this very specific discussion by Plato, a very venerated ancient writer who has it twice, in two different dialogues. And he writes about it in great detail -- [Plato] tells you it’s located in the Straits of Gilbralter; so when you know so much detail and nobody can find the place, it sort of passes into mythic legend.
But the thing I think really compels people in the modern period about Atlantis -- it’s about an advanced civilization that nearly overnight, disappeared. And I think that is a moral message that all of us could heed. It's one of those kinds of apocalyptic scenarios that everyone, whether they’re in China or Europe or Africa or the United States, they can listen to that story and they say, "This could happen to us." That’s one of the things that drives people to know more about it.
What was it like working with James Cameron?
He has the interest and the expertise to help scientists in the field, and unfortunately in many cases documentarians don’t have the access to the kinds of expertise that a person like James Cameron brings to the table.
I think that this really is the way that we teach this coming generation about how science really can help us understand the world. If three young kids watch this documentary and say "I want to be a scientist," then the documentary has done its work.
