Meet Sanu, a Sri Lankan woman defying expectations as one of the first female surfers (documentary)
“In Sri Lanka, local women are hardly seen in the ocean. Despite growing up on an island, most women have never learnt how to swim and thus, fear the ocean. This is the result of traditional gender norms and cultural expectations that has prevented the ocean from becoming ‘an accepted space’ for women.”
— SeaSisters Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan women, particularly in rural areas, are expected to marry, stay home, cook, and take care of their families. But Sana? She’s one of Sri Lanka’s first female surfers.
Filmmaker Jordyn Romero spent five weeks immersing herself in the local life in Weligama, alongside the organisation SeaSisters Sri Lanka, so she could document Sana’s in this beautiful short film.
Narrated by Sanu herself with subtitles, you get a first-hand perspective of her life. Sanu is told to not go in water because she’s not a boy, because her skin will get darker, because she’s get ‘too muscular’. Her father’s friends tell him that she will lose her attractiveness and boys won’t like her.
“It’s hard to believe what you can’t see.”
— Sanu
Working at a surf camp making food, her brother helps foreigners learn how to surf. Although there are foreign men and women along the coast surfing the waves, when it comes to locals, it’s only the young men that get in the water. She has never seen another local woman surfing in her life.
This short 10-minute documentary brings you into Sanu’s mind, interviewing her family and friends, showing her daily life, and shots of her catching waves in the ocean.
“The team spent 5 weeks in Weligama, Sri Lanka, and immersed ourselves in Sanu’s world. We laughed catching warm waves with her, ate food alongside her family, and saw with our own eyes the obstacles she has to face just because she loves to surf. Though I come from a privileged background compared to Sanu, we bonded over our mutual struggle to become female surfers. This story is not just Sanu’s, it is the story of most female surfers around the world.”
— Jordyn RomeroLove Surfing? Check out our other surfing content here!
