BIG vs SMALL, a film written and directed by Minna Dufton, is a 70-minute surf documentary about the private challenges of Portuguese big wave surfer Joana Andrade and her experience of deep inner reckoning to overcome them taking the viewer from the powerful waves at Nazaré, Portugal to the silent depths beneath the ice of a frozen Finnish lake.
BIG vs SMALL is a deep dive into Andrade's personal fears provoked by trauma, and her commitment to overcome them to find the freedom that lies on the other side. The film pivots from big wave riding when - in order to help Andrade break out of her comfort zone - she is introduced to Finnish freediver Johanna Nordblad. In order to help Andrade move beyond her current fear threshold in breathholding, the freediving world champion mentors Andrade in cold water freediving beneath the frozen waters of a Finnish Lake.
In the end, what is dicovered is that Andrade's truest courage lay not in mastering the forces of nature at Nazaré, but in facing what lived beneath her own personal turbulence for years.
Significant and moving, watch the trailer below to learn more:
BIG vs. SMALL: A Surf Documentary about the Power of Facing the Greatest Fear
When filmmaker Minna Dufton set out to document the life of big wave surfer Joana Andrade, known as the fearless “tiny fighter” who challenges massive waves at Nazaré in Portugal, she believed she was telling a story about Andrade's courage in large surf.
She soon discovers the film was to be about something much more meaningful.
At the outset of the film, while discussing safety systems that protect big wave surfers in life and death situations, Andrade reveals to Dufton a secret she has harbored for years, her profound fear of drowning spiked by and linked to an underlying trauma from a childhood event.
Her personal reveal unfolds an unexpected chain of events for the film, and for herself.
That confession leads to a pivotal meeting between two elite athletes from very different worlds: Joana Andrade and Finnish freediving world champion Johanna Nordblad. With the goal of pushing Andrade beyond her comfort zone in breathholding and - ultimately - to face her greatest fear, the two women embark on an unlikely adventure beneath a frozen lake of northern Finland.
"To rise on top of their own personal big waves and survive them. I believe that we all face big wave challenges in our lives and we need stories like Joana’s to help us get through them."
- Minna Dufton
BIG vs SMALL holds gravitas as a motivational inner quest for Andrade while simultaneously offering stunning cinematic value by taking viewers from the thunderting surf at Nazaré to the silent, frozen waters of Finland. Andrade's is a story about great strength and true vulnerability, confronting one's deepest fears and surrendering control.
What we discover is that the greatest battle isn't on the waves at all. It's about vanquishing the darkness that lies within.
Watch the full film in North America via the Apple TV Store here:
BIG vs. SMALL
Director's Statement from Minna Dufton
With my roots deeply in journalism, I always do a lot of research into my films. With BIG vs SMALL, it started in 2017 from a BBC News article about female elite big wave surfers in the US fighting for equality in the sport.
Stay in touch with festival showings of BIG vs. SMALL:
https://bigvssmalldocumentary.com
Prior to this, I’d never heard of such a thing as people surfing waves of 15 to 30 metres high. I became hooked on watching big wave surfing on YouTube and eventually found myself on the west coast of Portugal learning to surf. I’d never made a film about surfing before so I spent some time getting to know the sport and the people in it.
In March 2018, I interviewed Portuguese big wave rider and athlete João de Macedo, about the dark side of big wave surfing. I wanted to know why anyone would want to surf the killer waves of Nazaré and what was the key to surviving those scary wipe-outs in them. It had to be deeply psychological. I knew I wanted to profile a female big wave surfer - I really wanted to know why any woman would put herself in a situation as terrifying as what João described. Ironically, João told me that the best way to train for getting submerged inside a big wave, was to freedive under ice. I filed this interesting if odd bit of news away, and started looking for a subject.
I kept asking around and heard that there was indeed one Portuguese woman surfing in Nazaré and at that time she was one of only two women in Europe surfing and competing on the big waves there.
She was Joana Andrade. As soon as I got home from my first trip to Portugal, I emailed Joana introducing myself and thankfully, she emailed me back. Three months later we met in her hometown of Ericeira and I filmed a demo of her in the garage of her surf school. That day I knew I just had to find a way of making a film about her - not the easiest of tasks with us living on the opposite ends of Europe.
I started out making a film about how a tiny woman conquers her biggest fears surfing the world’s biggest wave. In the end, I ended up making a film about liberation from a traumatic experience. My creative and cinematic approach for BIG vs SMALL started to take shape the day Joana told me the real reason why she surfs big waves: About how five years before we met, she hated herself because of what had happened to her in her past.
Visually, Joana’s relationship with the waves always seemed like the scene from Disney’s Moana, where the ocean protects little Moana from drowning. I couldn’t get the image of the ocean as a protective, kind, almost motherly place out of my head.
But then Joana told me that she had nearly drowned four times in her life: The ocean is not a Disney movie. Almost immediately, I began to connect the dots back to my interview with João and freediving.
Coming from a country of over 180,000 lakes, which all freeze over the winter, I realised that maybe there was something I could do to help Joana learn to survive inside those monster waves, and maybe even prevent her from ending up in a situation where she would drown. Suddenly, I didn’t want to just make a film about her, I wanted to make a film that could change - and potentially save - her life.
I contacted Guinness World Record holder, Finnish freediver Johanna Nordblad and we met for coffee in Helsinki. I explained Joana’s story to her, and asked if she’d be interested in giving her some cold water training. Johanna, was also inspired by Joana’s story and said that the best thing to do would be for Joana to fly to Finland the coming winter.
What speaks to me in BIG vs SMALL on a philosophical level, is the question of what really is big and what is small about us humans - we all have those two in us! With BIG vs SMALL, I’ve also wanted to show that our physical size really has nothing to do with how strong or resilient we are and how capable of learning and achieving anything we want - if only we want to.
In BIG vs SMALL we dive into Joana’s very personal reasons behind her big wave surfing, not for sensationalism but as a catalyst for her change.
Through following her for the past couple of years, I’ve come to realise that the liberation we see Joana experience in the film, is through things that we all experience: self hate, guilt, fear of being who we really are. It’s about the things that keep all of us from moving forward. Once we understand our source of power, we do so by clearing away anything that obscurs that.
I task myself to make emotionally powerful documentaries that can touch audiences but also in doing the right thing by my subjects. I don't believe in leaving the audience or my subjects feeling shattered at the end of my films. I’d rather help them rise above whatever challenges they’ve faced in their own lives: To rise on top of their own personal big waves and survive them. I believe that we all face big wave challenges in our lives and we need stories like Joana’s to help us get through them.
One of the things I’m particularly excited about with BIG vs SMALL is that the real life story and journey of Joana so closely follows the archetypal fairy tale structure, something I want to explore more in my future film stories and characters.
Film:
4K, Colour
Duration: 76 mins
Country of production: Finland, Portugal
Languages: Portuguese, Finnish, English
Subtitles: English
Raggari Films Presents:
BIG vs. SMALL
Written & Directed by Minna Dufton
Film Editor: Maarit Nissilä
Producers: Minna Dufton, Heidi Richert
Director of Photography: Sakke Kantosalo
Surf Cinematography: Tim Bonython
Sound Designer: Juuso Oksala
Original Score Riversound Music: Markus Karppinen
Matias Karppinen
Janne Eerola
Theme “Full Hearted” : Joana Alegre
Diviner: Joana Alegre, Great Dane Studios
Associate Producers: Virgilio Ferreira, Saul Neves
Executive Producers: Kathleen McInnis, Minna Dufton
