SurfILM
Senior Documentary Capstone | Creative Direction, Film, and Community Storytelling
SurfILM
Project: UNC Wilmington Film Studies Capstone
Role: Videographer, Co-Director, Co-Producer, Outreach
Goal: Create a film that shares the stories of female surfers in Wilmington, NC
Award: Surfalorous 2025’s Best Emerging Filmmakers
Concept + Vision
The film was developed to capture the intersection of girlhood, sport, and community along the North Carolina coast. Rather than focusing solely on competitive surfing, Surfilm highlights the emotional and cultural dimensions of the sport—how women found belonging in a historically male-dominated environment and built a supportive surf culture that continues today.
Visually, the project draws on natural coastal textures, handheld documentary cinematography, and intimate interviews to reflect the authenticity and freedom of surf life. The goal was to create a film that feels both nostalgic and contemporary, celebrating the evolution of women’s presence in the lineup.
Community Impact
During production, the project expanded beyond a traditional documentary into a broader community initiative. Interviews and outreach reconnected longtime surfers, past competitors, and organizers of the Wahine Classic, sparking conversations about the event’s history and its role in shaping female surf culture in Wilmington. We connected old friends from East to West Coast. The film became a platform for preserving local stories while strengthening connections between generations of surfers.
Execution
The project involved concept development, research into the history of the Wahine Classic, interview-led storytelling, and on-location filming along the Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach coastline. Production focused on blending narrative interviews with observational surf footage and environmental visuals to create a layered portrait of the community.
Outcome
Surfilm functions as both a documentary film and a cultural archive, highlighting the women who helped shape Wilmington’s surf community and the lasting legacy of the Wahine Classic Surf Competition. By documenting personal histories and shared experiences in the water, the project preserves an important piece of local surf culture while celebrating the role of women in building that community.
The film also gained recognition beyond the Wilmington surf scene. Surfilm received Best Emerging Filmmakers at the Surfalorous Film Festival in Nags Head, North Carolina, acknowledging the project’s storytelling and its contribution to surf media.
Through this project, I developed skills in documentary storytelling, interview-led narrative structure, and creative direction for long-form visual work. Surfilm reflects my interest in projects that combine storytelling, culture, and community to create meaningful visual narratives.