Maya Gabeira has faced enormous challenges in her life – like shooting down gigantic walls of water, risking life and limb.
The Brazilian big-wave surfer is the focus of the Oscar-contending documentary Maya and the Wave, directed by Stephanie Johnes and executive produced by Alexandra Johnes (Stephanie’s sister), which screened as part of Deadline’s virtual event series For the Love of Docs. The award-winning film explores how Gabeira became a world record-setting success despite dealing with severe injury, a near-death experience, and entrenched sexism in the sport, which manifested itself in many ways including a barrage of criticism she endured after a devastating fall at a big surfing event.
“I realized that a lot of those criticisms were more [about] them than me,” Gabeira noted during a Q&A after the FTLOD screening. “What they wanted to do was limit me. What they wanted to create was fear in me and to make me believe I couldn’t do it. I was on my path, and I still had a lot to evolve to be the best. But nonetheless, I deserve to have a space and a room for failure because it’s only when we fail that we evolve. It’s only when we fail that we learn — if we’re willing to. And I was always willing to.”
Stehanie Johnes served as the cinematographer on an earlier sports-related documentary, Venus and Serena, about the tennis greats Venus and Serena Williams.
“I love women’s sports — way before it was trendy — and started researching basketball and everything from MMA, to surfing, to gymnastics,” she explained about the origins of Maya and the Wave. “I learned about big wave surfing, and I’m a surfer myself… I was curious to find if there were any women surfing big waves. And I stumbled on Maya on the internet, and I was like, wow, this woman is amazing. She had won multiple Big Wave Awards, which is the annual award for big-wave surfing. And I just reached out to her through a friend, and she was super open and said, ‘Hey, why don’t you come with me? And I’ve got a surf trip coming up in Mexico.’ So, we went down there and that was 10 years ago. And yes, it’s been a wild ride ever since.”
For Alexandra Johnes, the project represented a chance to explore the story of a remarkable champion, and to collaborate with her older sibling.
“I’m naturally a big fan of my sister. I actually produced her very first film, and this is her second film,” Alexandra said. “I was just obviously drawn to Maya and getting to profile a woman athlete at her level… And my sister’s tenacity and determination to do this in a very tight style … there’s a lot of resistance to verité stories. You just don’t know how they’re going to go. And I just so admire my sister for insisting on following this through thick and thin for as long as she did.”
Stephanie interjected with another explanation for why her sister agreed to work on the film. “She didn’t have a choice,” Stephanie joked. “I mean, you’re a lone filmmaker and your little sister happens to be a superstar, very accomplished producer. You’re going to lean on her, you’re going to pull her in, you’re going to ask her questions. And of course she has no choice. And she’s amazing. And I’m really lucky that I have such a spectacular sister who supported and helped me with this long process.”
The film reveals how Gabeira recuperated from a near-fatal surfing accident in 2013, and somehow managed to set new records once she was able to return to surfing.
“If you fall, it’s as intense as when you don’t fall. When you fall, you do get run over by something that would be much stronger than a truck,” Gabeira said. “You have an immense amount of water that is very dense, throwing you everywhere. And I’ve lost consciousness underwater from just the explosion. I’ve lost all of my air through just hitting the water. … You control nothing at that point. You’re at nature’s mercy and there’s an acceptance that you have to have. There’s a patience for the process. There is confidence in your physicality, in your mind to survive that kind of stress level. So, it definitely pushes you to the very limit of human beings.”
Watch the full conversation in the video above.
For the Love of Docs is a virtual Deadline event series presented by National Geographic. It continues with a new film screening each Tuesday through December 2. Next up: Copa 71, directed by James Erskine and Rachel Ramsay.