The film, Beyond the Surface, set out to document women and youth empowerment and environmental awareness through the unique lens of surfing in India. The film is a catalyst for more audiovisual projects.
Our role was to highlight the Kovalam Surf Club and facilitate the children's participation in the film project. The children's stories demonstrate how wave-riding and innovation have brought them joy amongst suffering and identity amongst mass conformity. For young women, with the onset of puberty means an end to their surfing and time to conform to well-established female roles and responsibilities. Beyond the Surface highlights one Indian woman’s refusal to obey tradition by charting her own extraordinary life course through her surfing. Ishita shares aspects of her story in documentary-style interviews and through breathtaking cinematography.
Our hope is that the film could provoke audience members to discover what it means for themselves to go beyond the surface in the context of their own lives whether they are a millionaire from London, a fisherman from Laos, or a high schooler from Louisiana.