Doc ‘Maya and The Wave, ‘Executive Produced by Rashida Jones, to hit theaters Sept. 13
Hitting theaters on Sept. 13 in New York at Village East by Angelika is the new documentary Maya and the Wave, executive produced by Rashida Jones and directed/produced by Stephanie Johnes. The film premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2022, and was first runner-up for the People's Choice Award for Documentaries.
Maya and the Wave is about Brazilian big-wave surfer Maya Gabiera – who holds the world record for the largest wave ever surfed by a woman. After her first attempt to surf the 100-foot waves in Nazare ends in tragedy, Maya works her way back to health and back to Portugal to triumph over the waves there and take home a world record.
Maya’s story is one of perseverance and courage, and so is the story of how this film. After winning the audience award at the Toronto Film Festival in 2022, the co-producer and director of photography had a stroke. With no close family and no one to take care of him, Maya, and the director, Stephanie Johnes, dropped everything in their lives to make sure he was taken care of. Only now do they have the physical and emotional bandwidth to refocus their efforts on the film and bringing it to the world.