Maya and the Wave, a full length feature film directed by documentary filmmaker Stephanie Johnes, captures the odyssey of Brazilian big wave surfer Maya Gabeira’s Guiness Book of World Records achievement of surfing the largest wave ever surfed by a woman in 2020 at 73.5’ feet.
The film is now on a U.S. Oscar-qualifying tour including exclusive premieres in New York and Los Angeles in September 2024 (dates below). More than just another surf film, Maya and the Wave captures the myriad of struggles this young female surfer must face in a male dominated sport where women’s achievements are often disregarded or even, in this case, postponed.
The film is not only about Maya’s achievement of surfing moving mountains, but also her tenacity, resilience and ability to overcome even greater obstacles in order to put herself there.
Maya and the Wave: Fighting for a World Record
On February 11, 2020, Maya Gabeira surfed a 73.5 foot wave at Nazaré off of mainland Portugal, making the Brazilian big wave surfer the only woman to have surfed a wave of that height for the 2020 WSL XXL Biggest Wave Award. That wave also broke Gabeira’s previous record of a wave surfed by a woman at 68-feet. The male biggest wave award that year, went to Kai Lenny for a wave surfed at 70-feet to give you some perspective.
When the awards were announced in August of 2020, the WSL delayed announcing the winner of the Women’s XXL Biggest Wave award citing a need for additional judging and online measurements due to a close contest with another big wave charger, Justine Dupont. Due to the alleged need for additional measurements, the WSL decried the women’s winner and simply celebrated Lenny’s win at the awards ceremony, bypassing the crucial detail that both women had surfed waves bigger than the men.
For the first time in big wave surfing history - generally a subjective measurement at best - the WSL calculated the size of Gabeira’s and Dupont’s waves using photogrammetry. Essentially, they estimated the wave heights using equations that measure the sizes of known objects in the images - jetskis and the surfers themselves - and triangulate that data with the angles and locations of the cameras taking the photos. This high-tech analysis determined that Gabeira’s wave was ‘conservatively’ 73.5 feet from crest to trough while Dupont’s was two to three foot shorter - both notably larger than Lenny’s winning wave.
Delaying the women’s award for so long after the actual WSL XXL Biggest Wave awards ceremony - due to the highly scientific and data driven calculation of Gabeira’s and Dupont’s wave which was not used to measure Kai Lenny’s winning wave - buried the recognition that Maya Gabeira had out-surfed the men that year.
Maya’s Personal Comeback from Injury, Gender Politics and Personal Loss
This wave also represented Gabeira's massive determination to come back after a near-fatal accident at Nazaré in 2013 where she suffered a near-drowning, shattered fibula and underwent no less than three spinal surgeries to put her back in the water. She was told by certain prominent male surfers that she should never have been out there in the first place.
When Gabeira came back, in 2018, she set the first ever women’s big wave world record at 68 feet.
In the film, Gabeira takes on the challenge of being appropriately recognized as a big wave surfer in such a male dominated sport and community. Even in 2020, when the WSL did announce her wave as larger than Lenny’s, they emphasized in the press release that men and women compete in separate divisions, not against each other. A strange statement that would - no doubt - have never been made if the largest wave surfed that year was surfed by a male rider.
Although the WSL is known for its equal prize purses between men and women in surf competitions, and have in the intervening years ‘invited’ women to participate alongside the men in the now-legendary tow-in contest, it seems that - in 2020- the League failed to properly illuminate the extraordinary effort of a young woman, battling her way back from injury to win the largest wave award, in a head-to-head comparison with the world’s most notable male surfer.
Tragedy Strikes Film: Johnes and Gabeira Return to Tour
Maya and the Wave is a feature length film by documentary filmmaker Stephaine Johnes, was previously released in 2020 but then buried by the pandemic fallout. Then, in 2022, the team behind the film, including cinematographer Jorge Leal premiered the film to much success at TIFF when their film tour was cut short tragically by a rare brain stem stroke that left Leal paralyzed of movement except for the blinking of his eyes. After a year at his bedside, during which Gabeira and Johnes discovered a way to communicate with him, the team was left exhausted but not downtrodden. The journey to the re-release of Maya and the Wave has left this young surfer more determined than ever to get this film the attention it deserves.
Now, on its United States Oscar- qualifying tour, Maya and the Wave will be hold exclusive premieres of the film in both New York, and Los Angeles in September 2024. Stay tuned for ticketing information in future updates.
New York City Premiere:
Date: Wednesday, September 11, 2024 @7:00PM
Location: Village East theater at 181-189 2nd Ave., New York, NY 10003
Film followed by exclusive Q&A with:
Director: Stephanie Johnes
Athlete: Maya Gabeira
Hosted by: Alex Gibney
Also showing in NYC on September 13-19, 2024.
For ticketing information, CLICK HERE.
About Maya and the Wave:
Synopsis: MAYA and the WAVE, a feature length documentary, tells the extraordinary story of Maya Gabeira, the first woman to attempt to surf the giant wave in Nazaré, Portugal. She nearly drowns-and is ridiculed and ostracized by the male big wave surfers who dominate the sport. Three spine surgeries and five years later, she surfs the biggest wave a woman has ever surfed. When her accomplishment is disregarded, Maya enlists the help of her fans to fight for recognition--and becomes the first female surfer honoured with a Guinness World Record.
Featuring:
Carlos Burle
Fernando Gabeira
Ross Clarke-Jones
Garrett McNamara
Yamê Reis
Pedro Scooby
Sebastian Steudtner
Awards:
TIFF- People’s Choice Documentary award - 1st runner up
Sun Valley Film Festival - winner “Best Feature Documentary”
Brest Surf Film Festival - winner “Coup de Coeur”
Nantucket Film Festival - winner “Best of the Fest”
