Dear friends!

We are happy to announce that the movie "Born to be Free" is now ready!

It took longer than we have expected but finally here we are. We are really grateful to all of you: our friends, supporters and contributors for your patience. We tried to do our best to make a film which will inspire great changes.

We are planning to launch the film internationally in January 2017 with plans for major TV and on-line distribution in early spring. Details to be announced soon on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/borntobefreemovie) and on our film's web-site (will publish the link here shortly). Together with our distributors we are working on ways to show the film to audiences worldwide in the most effective way.

In next few days we will send a letters to all our contributors regarding the perks and your personal copies of the movie. Thank you friends, together we made it happen!

Please feel free to write us if you have any questions! 

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“This film has the potential to do for Russia what "Blackfish" has done for the United States. It can open the eyes of the public to the suffering that goes on behind the scenes at dolphinariums."                                                                                        Dr. Naomi Rose, Marine Mammal Scientist, Animal Welfare Institute

"I am very much looking forward to the release of the film “Born to be Free”.  The film itself will take a monumental step to change the way how people view  dolphins and beluga whales in captivity. "                                                                                                       Dr. Samuel Hung, Chairman of Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society                                                                                                         

The Story

In 2013 the export of 18 beluga whales to USA from Russia was banned. Initially they were caught to be sold and exported to Georgia Aquarium. We learned about this by reading actress Kim Basinger's open letter to President Putin in the media reports where she begged him to set those beluga whales free. We rejoiced at the fact that such a ban was made possible. But realizing that belugas' journey in Russia still not over we made up our mind to find them. They have been kept at the Utrishskaya marine station  at the Black Sea (Russia). The moment we managed to see big white whales in small tanks we were astounded. Nowadays the belugas are still imprisoned there unseen by the public eye behind a tall fence. Their owner still hopes to sell them to the USA and pinning his hopes on a court of justice.

Yet, our film dwells not solely on this story that has not seen its ending so far. It is only a tiny piece of a giant puzzle called industry of cetaceans in captivity. A while ago it was reported that two orcas had remained hidden in old rusty tanks in Moscow. Doomed to a complete isolation, crammed into an extremely narrow space, the animals have been waiting there for more than a year for an oceanarium to be inaugurated. Now there are already three of them, the third one been brought there, as well.

In course of our investigation we were confronted with the seamy side of this infamous business which involves a great deal of agents, money and animals' suffering. We learned that Russia now is the only country where wild belugas and orcas are captured and sold to oceanariums around the world. We found that the mortality rate in course of  beluga captures may reach up to 50 percent. It would mean 50 deaths per 100 of  animals retrieved from the ocean. This is the price for the beluga whales shows people attend in oceanariums in the USA, Canada, China and other countries. As for the orcas, the price of one  whale sold to China makes up approximately 10 mln USD, and usually several of them are sold at once. Each year the animals are captured in ever increasing numbers. 

Our film is not in the slightest aimed against any certain person  and no one can accuse us of evoking bias or acting out of venality. Our mission is to reveal the truth about the industry of dolphinaria to a broader public, to show the way captures and transportations are carried out, to share the opinion of prominent experts in the field who will specify what captivity means for dolphins.

Above all, we intend to celebrate free dolphins and beluga whales in the wild. Indeed, our film is dedicated to freedom. 

The Reasons For Our Commitment

Our director and producer Gayane Petrosyan is a professional documentary filmmaker. There is a bunch of cinema profs engaged in the Born to be Free production. However, what constitutes a significant part of our lives is that we are freedivers. We swim and dive with free dolphins and other cetaceans in their natural  environment and are blessed to see them happy and free in the Ocean. We dare say they are not inferior to humans intellectually, perhaps, even superior, in some respect. Apart from the horrors of dolphinaria we want to stress the contrast which needs no comments – dolphins in captivity and those living free. This contrast is the best argument in favour of freedom.

Only Facts...

Chlorine and other disinfectants contained in water cause damage to dolphins' skin and eyes. 

In the wild dolphins cover a distance of 150 km a day on average and dive at a depth of about 100 m. Compare these numbers to the size of dolphinarium tanks these animals are kept in.

Sound waves by means of which dolphins orient themselves and communicate get reflected from the tank's walls which may inflict upon the animals a considerable physical pain

Dolphins are often believed to smile in captivity and to willingly perform tricks. In fact, in so doing they merely earn food. Whereas what we misread as a smile is nothing but a design feature of their facial muscles. Eventually dolphins suffer from a depression in captivity. Sometimes they even commit suicide.

As social and highly intelligent creatures dolphins display strong familial bonds. In captivity they are separated from their families and mates and placed in an environment deeply alien to them. Once and for  ever. This is equal to a life sentence.

The Current Stage We Are In

We started to work on this documentary 18 months ago. Since then a lot of  footage has been acquired, plenty of expeditions and visits to dolphinaria accomplished, interviews with experts recorded. The production was funded at our own expense along with a generous help of our friends, dolphin-fans. But now we rely on your support to be able to complete the project. There is a small step to be done, we are standing nearly at the finish point. Yet, in order to provide a high-quality postproduction, share a movie reaching out to people's hearts, and launch a website which would efficiently promote the project and attract public interest, we need your financial support.

Our Goals

- Urge people to refuse from attending the shows featuring marine mammals in order not to reward this cruel industry

- Change public perception of oceanaria so that the latter would subsequently turn into an ugly anachronism

- Propose a humane alternative to how one can interact with dolphins and whales without any violence applied whatsoever

What Happens Next?

We do hope that  our film - Born to be Free, is going to initiate Russia-based project targeted at preserving cetaceans from captivity. The “Born Free” our first step, we believe more stories of the kind have to be told to change the attitude of the public in Russia and worldwide on the cetaceans in captivity and animal trade. There is more to be uncovered and told to the world and we are committed to continue our investigation and the story.

What We Need Your Donations For

We kindly ask you to help us complete the film “Born to be Free” so that we  can broadcast it and tell the truth about the live captures of dolphins and dolphinaria in Russia as soon as possible. At the moment we are short of 30 000 USD to cover following costs:

- postproduction: editing, montage, colour adjustment, music, and sound design altogether, graphics

- “Born to be Free” website

A high-quality postproduction is first and foremost of crucial importance to us, since filming was often performed under difficult circumstances, in locations where cameras are only reluctantly welcome, to say the least. At times this resulted in a more or less poor video quality which should be enhanced.

If The Funds Raised Are Insufficient, Will The Project Be Completed?

We strongly believe in the importance of this  documentary and intend to complete it either way, that is why each penny donated turns out to be vital. However, this would inevitably mean a slower progress that we have not initially taken into account. A high-quality film reaching out to the viewers' hearts and emotions cannot be managed for a song. 

If The Funds Raised Exceed The Declared Amount

Brilliant, because in this case the money would be directed to promote and distribute the film: advertising, participation in festivals, DVD production, receipt of distribution certificate, production of copies for cinemas – everything that would contribute to spreading the film around the globe. You can be assured that every dollar you share is going to be used exclusively to sponsor the project Born to be Free and ultimately lower the profit of oceanaria offering shows which involve dolphins and whales.

Our Team

Producer, director and writer  Gayane Petrosyan is an award-winning documentalist, author of more than 20 documentaries, chief executive of Baikal Cinema studios. Gayane's core activity includes films dealing with social problematic, environmental conservation and a harmonious cohabitation of humans with nature. She cooperates with the United Nations and IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare). She is a full member of the Russian Geographical Society.

„I am sure that a straightforward movie about dolphinaria and oceanaria is even more indispensable for humans, than for dolphins. A society which incessantly cultivates a human's right to deprive other rational beings of their freedom for the mere sake of the former's whims and entertainment under no circumstances can be defined healthy and advocating humanitarian values. It may be slightly immodest to say so about the film you are working on, but still I do believe that such films as Born to be Free give us a chance to become better“.

Tatyana Beley and Yulia Petrik are co-authors  and camera operators of movie, authors and participants of underwater shootings. And they are genuine mermaids boasting a unique experience of socialising and interacting with free dolphins and whales in various seas and oceans. 

Yulia Petrik is the first Russia's champion in freediving, prize winner of international competitions, Master Instructor and international judge of International Association of Development of Freediving, yoga instructor of the International Yoga Federation (IYF), founder and Director of the first Freediving School in Russia,  and underwater filmmaker, shooting  in freediving mode. She made journeys to more than 50 countries in course of a unique „collection“ of seas and isles in the waters of all four oceans from the Polar circle down to the southern tropics. 

Tatyana Beley is also the author of original idea and the creative producer of our film. She is an anchorperson and broadcast author of the Russian television, song writer and singer, freediving instructor and underwater filmmaker, shooting  in freediving mode. Tatyana  loves and trust the sea to such a great extent that even her small daughter was born right in the ocean last year.