In three chapters shaped by the phases of the moon, HER WAVE follows the first German female big wave surfer Lena Kemna through her second season in Nazaré after her 2025 debut.

Beyond the surface, the film explores the shifting currents that shape both ocean and mind. It opens up life’s bigger questions and invites the viewer to listen to intuition rather than close them, encouraging each to seek their own answers. Instead of following a traditional hero narrative, HER WAVE traces a season marked by stark highs and lows, where clarity remains uncertain and may only emerge in retrospect, if at all.

Dark, experimental, and abstract, the film holds beauty and destruction side by side. This sensibility extends into a composed score built around German rap, bringing together emerging and established artists whose textures and rhythms deepen the film’s emotional landscape. At 31 minutes, HER WAVE resists easy consumption and instead invites viewers into full immersion.

Lena, describe your journey to surfing Nazaré?
Surfing Nazaré was never a sudden decision or a single goal I set for myself. After more than a decade of gradually surfing bigger and bigger waves, it was naturally on the horizon. I’ve always been fascinated by the ocean at its most extreme – that feeling of truly being out there. At the same time, my story isn’t a classic all-in pursuit of one dream. I’m also a freediver, and I completed a PhD alongside my athletic journey. Life is rarely a straight line, and mine certainly wasn’t. There were different passions, challenges and responsibilities competing for attention, and I think that’s reflected in how I approach big wave surfing. And that´s what we wanted to show in the film.

Let us how the film come about, and how proud are you of the finished piece?
I never set out to become a filmmaker or film producer. I simply felt there was a story that needed to be told.
What interested me wasn’t just documenting big wave surfing, but exploring the inner landscape that comes with it – the uncertainties, contradictions and questions that are often invisible from the outside. That’s why HER WAVE doesn’t follow a traditional hero narrative.
I’m proud of the finished film because it stayed true to that vision. We made choices that go against a lot of current industry advice. It’s a film that asks for your full attention, uses music in German, and doesn’t try to simplify itself to fit viewing habits shaped by streaming platforms and second screens. We wanted to make something immersive and honest rather than optimised, and I’m proud that we committed to that all the way through.

As a freediver did help you when tackling huge waves at Nazaré?
Freediving has been one of the most valuable tools in my preparation for big waves, and honestly, for life. On a practical level, it helps with breath-hold capacity and with becoming comfortable in situations where you don’t have immediate control. My breath-hold is far stronger than anything Nazaré has ever demanded of me, and that comes from years of depth training as well as competing in dynamic apnea. Beyond that, the biggest benefits are mental. Freediving teaches you to stay calm when your instincts are telling you the opposite. It teaches awareness, relaxation on command and trust in your training. Those skills transfer directly to big wave surfing. At a deeper level, though, my relationship with freediving is quite complex. It’s not just a tool that serves surfing. In many ways, it competes with it. As I go deeper and stay underwater longer, freediving demands more attention, energy and recovery. The two disciplines ask for very different things from both the body and the ocean. Freediving has become a second purpose for me, but also an escape. It’s where I go when everything else gets too loud. In the middle of this Nazaré winter season, I actually disappeared for two weeks to go freediving – and that journey became part of the film.

HER WAVE is on tour this summer. Can you tell us where people can see the film?
HER WAVE is currently touring through a variety of screenings and festivals. This summer, we’re part of a large open-air cinema tour across Germany, and I’ll be at most screenings for a Q&A. We’re also part of a film tour in Lebanon, which feels particularly special, and we’re continuing to work with independent festivals and other touring film programmes internationally. The most up-to-date screening information is always available at lenakemna.com/herwave.
Beyond that, we’re taking a community-driven approach to distribution. If someone would love to see the film at a festival, film tour or local screening event, they’re very welcome to reach out with ideas. Eventually, the film will be made freely available online, but not until 2027. For now, we’re really enjoying sharing it through live screenings and conversations with audiences.

Follow Lena @lena.kemna