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Big vs Small

Minna Dufton | 2022 | 76 MINS
Finland | Some Subtitles
Focus on the Documentary: Finland/Portugal

An unlikely 5 foot tall, big-wave surfer takes on Portugal’s Nazaré in a courageous bid to quell her inner turmoil in this candid portrait of an abuse survivor.

In Detail

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.

Little did she know Joana harboured a secret that could keep her from the waves. A third of the way through Minna Dufton’s documentary, Andrade drops a bombshell: as a 12-year-old she was groomed, drugged and sexually abused by a family friend.

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.

This is an unusually candid psychological portrait of a damaged yet resilient human being.

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