MOVIE NEWS – April 14 marks the 113th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic – an event that has captivated the world for more than a century. To mark the occasion, National Geographic presents “Titanic: Digital Rebirth,” a 90-minute documentary that explores the most infamous maritime disaster in history. Using cutting-edge underwater scanning technology, including 715,000 digitally captured images, the special edition features the most accurate model of the Titanic ever created: a life-size digital twin, created with pinpoint accuracy. The documentary, produced by BAFTA-winning Atlantic Productions, premieres on National Geographic Channel on April 12 at 9 p.m. and will be available on Disney+ starting May 16.

Award-winning filmmaker and pioneer Anthony Geffen and his team, along with Magellan, undertook the largest 3D underwater scanning project of its kind in 2022, mapping the wreck of the Titanic 12,500 feet below the surface of the North Atlantic. Working around the clock for three weeks, they captured 16 terabytes of data, 715,000 stills, and 4K footage, capturing the ship in unparalleled detail. After nearly two years of analysis, a team of leading historians, engineers and forensic experts – including Titanic analyst Parks Stephenson, metallurgist Jennifer Hooper and sea captain Chris Hearn – came together to reconstruct the ship’s final moments, challenging long-held assumptions and providing new insights into the events of one of the most fateful nights of 1912.

Stephenson, Hoope,r and Hearn tour the full-scale wreck up close on a massive wall of LED displays that create a 3D experience. From the boiler room, where engineers worked heroically to keep the lights on until the bitter end, to the first-class cabins where the ship split in two, they scan the wreckage to see exactly where the tragedy occurred.

We’ve rounded up some of the key insights from the documentary:

• An open steam valve

The team discovers an open steam valve. This also confirms eyewitness accounts that the ship’s engineers remained in boiler room number two for more than two hours after the impact, maintaining power and allowing wireless distress signals to be sent. The 35 men saved hundreds of lives, while sacrificing their own.

• Hull Pieces

The team reconstructs the ship’s wreckage like a jigsaw puzzle, providing a startling insight into the final moments of the ocean liner. The Titanic did not break in two cleanly, along a sharp line, but was torn apart by brute force. It also tore through the first-class cabins, where prominent passengers such as J. J. Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim sought refuge.

• First Officer William Murdoch

First Officer Murdoch was long accused of abandoning his post. However, further analysis of digital scans is adding to the evidence that exonerates him. The position of the lifeboat hoist, visible in new high-resolution detail, suggests that the crew was preparing to launch the lifeboat moments before the starboard side of the ship engulfed it. The discovery also supports the account of First Officer Charles Lightoller that Murdoch was swept away by the sea.

The 90-minute special also examines the 15-square-mile wreck site in stunning detail, which is littered with hundreds of personal items, including pocket watches, wallets, gold coins, combs, shoes and a shark tooth pendant, and paints a poignant picture of the lives lost. Historian Yasmin Khan and her team are working to link these items to their original owners.

The scans also reveal that the wreck is in a state of serious deterioration, with some of its iconic features already collapsing. But thanks to its digital twin, Titanic will remain in perfect detail as it looked in 2022, securing its place in history for generations to come and ushering in a new era of underwater archaeology.

“Titanic: The Digital Resurrection” was produced by Atlantic Productions for National Geographic. Anthony Geffen served as producer for Atlantic, Lina Zilinskaite as executive producer, and Fergus Colville as director. Simon Raikes and Chad Cohen served as executive producers for National Geographic.

The BAFTA-winning documentary will premiere on National Geographic Channel on April 12 at 9 p.m. and will be available on Disney+ from May 16.