Adventure Filmmaker

Milan, Italy

Igor has been able to combine his passion for outdoor adventure and marine conservation with his training in underwater filmmaking, camera drone pilot operation and advanced open water diving to document the stories of extreme sports athletes and outdoor brands. Since 2012, he has also filmed his personal adventures in the wild, with a particular focus on the people — and habitats —struggling with climate change. He is deeply committed to participating in the global community of conservationists who are fighting to protect the ocean.

I feel extremely comfortable and relaxed at sea, and although I’ve had a short experience as a scuba diver, I have now filmed more marine litter than fish. Every time I go underwater, I think that all around my mask there are miles and miles of unknown waters, with mysterious creatures and untouched places. It is amazing. The only other time I had this kind of feeling was on land when I went solo paddling down the Yukon River in Alaska, when I filmed “The Yukon Blues.” For generations, we have been dumping litter at sea just because we considered it a sort of black hole that swallows our garbage and teleports it into another universe. Unfortunately, there is no black hole at sea and we all are victims of these bad choices. We need to work hard to change the way people have looked at the ocean for many decades. Plus, I am now a huge fan of scuba diving. I believe everybody should try it once in their lifetime — I regret that I didn’t get into this sport much earlier!

I was born and raised in Palermo, Italy, very close to the sea. Snorkeling with my dad was my very first outdoor experience as a kid and back then I realized that the sea was going to be a big presence in my life. I had some spearfishing experiences as a teenager but I was terrible at it. I had no patience at all. I was a better lifeguard than spearfisherman. Fishing drunk tourists out of the sea in Liguria was much easier for me than waiting minutes underwater for a grouper to show up. I got into scuba diving two years ago because I started the Abyss Cleanup project, which is a docu-series about marine litter in Italy. I needed to become an underwater video-operator, so I got certified as a diver.

I consider Walter Bonatti, the Italian mountaineer and explorer as the most influential person in my life. His books totally changed my way of adventuring, living and dreaming. I think everybody should read his books.

As a professional adventure filmmaker I have to travel a lot. For my expeditions abroad for filming the docu-series “The Raftmakers,” I spent at least 30 days in every country I visited. I love this life, but I also love to spend time with friends and family at home. Sometimes, I am able to study for the last exams I need to pass to get my degree (Università degli studi di Palermo), but it is not easy to find the time for this with my job and my newborn daughter.

I love my yellow and black fins. They are incredibly comfortable underwater.

Cressi is working with great enthusiasm and passion on the Abyss Cleanup project. It is very rare to find a company that shows so much effort in supporting a project like mine, helping to protect the environment and raising awareness about the marine litter problem. It was a great surprise to me when they asked me to be a Cressi Ambassador, and of course I said yes!

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