Big vs Small

classified 12A S
Film

Please note: This was screened in Dec 2022

Director
Minna Dufton
Cast
Joana Andrade, Johanna Nordblad
Details
76 mins, Subtitled, 2020, Finland
Primary language
Portuguese

When filmmaker Minna Dufton started her documentary about elite big wave champion surfer, the "tiny fighter" Joana Andrade who rides the powerhouse waves at Nazaré, Portugal (home of the 100ft World Record Wave surfed by Garrett McNamara), little did she know Joana harbored a deep secret.

By way of explaining the safety equipment big wave surfers use, Joana shared her deep fear of drowning, something many big wave surfers share. In that one extraordinary moment, a remarkable cinematic serendipity would unfold and bring together the tiny Portuguese surfer with Finnish world champion free diver, Johanna Nordblad for the most unusual of training sessions.

Big vs Small is a modern-day fairytale stretching from the raging monster waves in the south to the dark stillness of a far-north, frozen Finnish lake; it's about power and strength on top of the water, and facing demons under it. It's about trust, it's about letting go, and it's about what happens when two elite female champions share their extraordinary talent with each other. Because, the battle isn't on the wave....


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