DESTEMIDO
A surfer in red, tiny beneath a collapsing giant wave at Nazaré

A documentary short

DESTEMIDO

“Fearless”

Watch the trailer
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Prologue

Raised far from the ocean amid poverty and violence, Marcelo Luna fell into addiction and crime before discovering surfing as an unlikely path to redemption.

He could not swim as a teenager, yet through sheer determination and fearlessness, he became one of the world’s leading big-wave chargers at Nazaré. An intimate story of faith, perseverance and impossible transformation, Destemido follows a man who refused to let his past define him—and found freedom in the ocean.

3× WSL Big Wave Awards nominee 23-metre wave at Nazaré Honoured on the Nazaré Surfer Wall
“If it weren’t for surfing, I wouldn’t be here. Surfing got me off drugs. Surfing freed me. Surfing gave me a reason to live.”

Chapter I

Far from the ocean

São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil. Tower blocks, power lines and dirt pitches — and a boy who could not swim.

The skyline of São Bernardo do Campo above a canopy of trees
Tower blocks seen through a tangle of power lines A boy dribbles a football across a dirt pitch past unfinished buildings
A boy crouches on a hazy, sunlit dirt pitch
“I grew up far from the ocean and couldn’t even swim as a teenager, so how did I become a pro surfer?”
Marcelo points out over the neighbourhood where he grew up Marcelo smiles beneath a tall apartment tower

Chapter II

The neighbourhood

The streets that raised him, and the people who fight to live there.

Marcelo walks through the neighbourhood with friends
Marcelo laughs and points back down the street Inside a busy green-walled neighbourhood bar
An old friend embraces Marcelo outside the bar
“I know many rich people, many intellectual people, but I don’t know nobody better than favela people.”
“These people really fight to live, sometimes.”
Marcelo in a LUNA cap on the football pitch he grew up on Marcelo stands by an old goal net Marcelo grins on a busy street
Marcelo laughs beside a chain-link fence and an unfinished building

Chapter III

Concrete waves

Before the ocean, there was the drainage channel. And everything else a kid reached for to escape.

Marcelo drops into a concrete drainage channel on a skateboard Marcelo carves the channel wall like a wave face
“This is how you learn to surf in São Bernardo.”
Marcelo longboards down a sunlit avenue past tower blocks Marcelo skates past a graffiti-covered wall Marcelo runs laughing down the drainage channel after his board
“We used to skate here. We used to do a lot of bad shit here too.”
A boy in silhouette walks into a dark alley towards a pool of light
The boy walks a narrow passage between towering walls A narrow, shadowed alley between brick houses
“Everything I had to escape my reality, I was using as a kid.”

Chapter IV

First water

He could not swim. He went in anyway.

Bare feet splash through the shallows, running towards the sea
A boy is swallowed by whitewater The boy gasps for air, water streaming from his face
The boy grins up at a clear blue sky
“I think God put surfing here to save me. It’s the only explanation I have.”

Chapter V

The work

To survive a giant wave, you first learn to stay calm without air.

Marcelo trains underwater, holding a kettlebell on the floor of a pool Marcelo gears up beside a tow board

Chapter VI

Open water

From the edge of São Bernardo to the edge of Europe.

Marcelo, seen from behind, faces a hazy sea and green mountains
Marcelo wades out with his board, hand over his face Marcelo pushes through shoulder-deep whitewater
Marcelo paddles hard, the city behind him Marcelo paddles out in backlit profile
Marcelo in the water at Nazaré, hood up, a jet ski waiting behind him
Marcelo looks up into the sun, tow partners behind him A lone surfer in red rides through wind-whipped water below the cliffs of Nazaré
“I wanted to face the ultimate challenge: the great waves of Nazaré.”

Chapter VII

Nazaré

The biggest waves on earth. A 23-metre wave. A 38.2-second ride.

Point-of-view: Marcelo grips the tow sled as a wave breaks behind him Point-of-view: Marcelo braced on the sled through flying spray Point-of-view: the camera tilts as Marcelo is towed up a wave face
From above: a tiny figure in red races ahead of exploding whitewater
Overhead: jet skis carve circles around a breaking wave A jet ski races to pick up a surfer in front of collapsing whitewater
From above: spray tears off the lip of a giant wave in low sun Marcelo drops down the dark face of an enormous wave
“One wave can change a guy’s life forever.”
A set of giant waves marches in towards Nazaré

Chapter VIII

What remains

Rescues in the floods. Classrooms and stages. A life given back.

Marcelo Luna rides a giant wave at Nazaré as spectators watch from the cliff
XXL Biggest Wave Award entry, WSL Big Wave Awards 2017 · Nazaré, 17 December 2016 · Photo: André Botelho
Cover of the book Uma Onda Gigante by Marcelo Luna
Author, Uma Onda Gigante
Marcelo with a signed Senna surfboard
A signed Senna board
Marcelo beside his board on exhibition
His board, on exhibition
Marcelo on the UFC Fight Pass set
Guest, UFC Fight Pass
Marcelo speaking on stage at LACTE 17
Speaker, LACTE 17
News helicopter footage: Marcelo pilots a jet ski through a flooded street. Caption reads: Surfista resgatou vítimas da enchente
“Surfista resgatou vítimas da enchente” — Brasil Urgente
Marcelo receives a certificate at a civic ceremony in São Paulo, beside a firefighter
Honoured in São Paulo
“The titles, they will pass. But what really remains is what we do for society.”
Marcelo speaks to a packed school canteen Marcelo talks to a group of young footballers on a pitch

Epilogue

The story inside the story

A film about his life, made inside his life.

Marcelo looks up at a framed black-and-white portrait of himself
“We’re making a story about my life, inside of my life.”

From the film

A first look

Join the list for the premiere

The making of · Brazil

Behind the scenes

Cast, crew and neighbourhood kids line up on the dirt pitch
A local boy operates the cinema camera on its tripod The boy gives a thumbs-up from behind the camera Nick, Marcelo and a crew member grin in a car selfie
Marcelo grins in front of a graffiti wall, holding his red impact vest
Nick and a young surfer leap in the shallows Nick and the boy play-fight at the water’s edge
Nick walks out of the surf with his board as the boy runs ahead Nick and the boy walk up the beach together Nick grins as he and the boy come out of the water
Dusk on the beach, the promenade lights coming on
Sunset blazes over the city skyline The evening sky reflected in the wet sand
Aerial view of a lone jet ski crossing a vast field of white foam, with the credit a film by Nick Page

To be continued

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