JUDY WOODRUFF: And finally tonight, a look inside the world of elite big wave surfers
and one of the few women in the world who take on the monster waves and her fears.
Stephanie Sy has the story.
It is part of our arts and culture series, Canvas.
STEPHANIE SY: This is Nazare, Portugal, home to the biggest
surfable waves on the planet, so big that surfers have to be towed in with jet skis,
so big that the 50-to-100 foot walls of water can slam surfers to the ocean floor.
The big wave surfing world descends here every fall and winter, even during a worldwide pandemic.
Like many extreme sports, big wave surfing is male-dominated.
Portuguese surfer Joana Andrade is one of a handful of women trying to change that.
JOANA ANDRADE, Big Wave Surfer: In the beginning, it was not easy. And,
sometimes, it's not easy too. They look to us and say, ah,
you -- maybe you are not able to surf. Maybe it's too big. Are you sure you want to go?
But I think it's changing.
STEPHANIE SY:
Andrade is the subject of the documentary "Big vs. Small," in part a nod to her height, 5'1''.
Does it make it harder, being someone on the shorter side surfing these big waves?
JOANA ANDRADE: Some people don't know me, and they just look, ah,
you're Joana Andrade? But you are so small and you surf these waves.
(LAUGHTER)
JOANA ANDRADE: My strong come not from my body, but from my mind and from my heart.
STEPHANIE SY: I love that. Your strength comes from your heart and your mind.
The sheer size of the waves was what intrigued the film's director, Finnish filmmaker Minna
Dufton. And in the interest of research, she learned to surf, albeit on smaller waves.
A lot of the film is about big feelings
and how to conquer them. Is that what you were going for with the title "Big vs. Small"?
MINNA DUFTON, Director: Joana is tiny, and the wave
is rather huge. And I have always been drawn to opposites. And I found it
so interesting, how -- figure out, what is big and what is small in us humans?
STEPHANIE SY:
The story is as much about surfing as it is about the mental strength and mind-set it takes to
conquer these waves, particularly when you have a profound fear of drowning, as Andrade does.
JOANA ANDRADE: Of course, I'm afraid to drown. But I keep going there because
I want to know why I'm so afraid to drown.
STEPHANIE SY: Oh, so you're trying to explore your fear through surfing?
JOANA ANDRADE: Yes. Yes.
MINNA DUFTON: I was lucky enough to know
just the woman that could help, and that could help Joana face her fear of drowning.
WOMAN: Oh, my gosh.
WOMAN: This is going to be our swimming pool today.
STEPHANIE SY: Johanna Nordblad one of the world's best freedivers, divers who plunge
into watery depths without supplemental oxygen, using only their own lung capacity.
She used an icy winter lake in Finland to teach Andrade how to control her breathing,
to stave off panic.
Nordblad spoke to us from Helsinki.
JOHANNA NORDBLAD, Freediver: The holding your breath, it's the similar feeling like the cold.
It's very intensive. It's very big. And -- but when you are under the wave, you have to relax,
because, if you relax, you don't use the oxygen, and then you have more time.
STEPHANIE SY: Dufton herself faced both literal
and metaphorical waves in making this film. First, there was Mother Nature.
MINNA DUFTON: I don't think I have ever been as nervous, as a director,
to see my crew all out there in jet skis and
Joana surfing. And those waves, they are pretty tight, one after another. They don't
really leave that many opportunities for us as a film crew to capture the shot that we want.
STEPHANIE SY: Another big wave she faced, funding.
The equity issue that you bring up with big wave surfing and women
is probably also something you can relate to as a female documentary filmmaker, right?
MINNA DUFTON: Big wave surfing and independent filmmaking
is fraught with doubt, uncertainty about where the money is going to come from, and rejection.
I mean, Joana Andrade, for example, she's an non-sponsored athlete in that sport,
and I'm an equivalent filmmaker.
STEPHANIE SY: Well, I'm sure, during the pandemic, there are a lot of people facing big waves.
MINNA DUFTON: You know, Joana's story is
a really good example of this overcoming your biggest fears. And I really hope it helps people
overcome their fears and whatever big waves that they're facing in their lives.
STEPHANIE SY: "Big vs. Small" is viewable online and in person at the DocLands Film
Festival in California and the Illuminate Festival in Sedona, Arizona, in May.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Stephanie Sy.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Such an inspiration. So glad to hear that story.
Thank you, Stephanie.