Jean Painlevé was a French film director and biologist that specialized in underwater life. He was born in 1902 in Paris. During his youth, he struggled in school, finally settling on Biology and entering the Laboratoire d'Anatomie et d'Histologie Comparée in Sorbonne. While a student, he helped to create an affiliate union to the "Socialist Revolutionary Students" and then joined the union of "Communist Students" in 1920. Painlevé was introduced to the Surrealists and began collaborating with the monthly revue "Surrealisme". He first entered the film business as an actor but was soon shooting his own films, the first being "L'ouef d'épinoche : de la fécondation à l'éclosion" in 1927. Painlevé designed a special waterproof box to protect the camera while shooting underwater. He passed away in July 1989. Overall, Painlevé directed of 200 science and nature films, the most famous have been collected and released by Criterion in 2009.

criterion.com/films/1286-science-is-fiction-23-films-by-jean-painleve

Jean Painlevé is featured in Edition: Paradise Found