Happening now · Nazaré

The Last Dance at Nazaré

The biggest swell is coming this winter. Marcelo is in Nazaré now. We’re raising the funds to put him in the water to surf it, and to film what happens.

Back the Last Dance

Since the short was made, Marcelo has retired from big-wave surfing due to medical issues. But he isn’t done. He is in Nazaré now, training for one last shot at the wave that defined his life.

Big-wave surfing is expensive. A single session at Nazaré means jet skis, a safety team, boards, fuel and the days of waiting for the right swell, and Marcelo is doing this without the backing he once had. We are raising funds now from investors and partners for The Last Dance at Nazaré: getting him in the water for this winter’s biggest swell, filming his comeback, and developing Destemido into a feature documentary or limited series.

Phase one

The Last Dance

Fund the session itself: skis, safety team and gear to get Marcelo into the water on the biggest swell of the winter, and film his return to Nazaré for one last ride.

Phase two

Feature doc or series

Expand the short into a feature documentary or a limited series that carries his story past Nazaré, through retirement, the home and hotel he built, and his comeback.

In development

The feature film

A scripted feature, Destemido, based on Marcelo’s life and his book, Uma Onda Gigante. Read about the script.

The initiatives behind Marcelo

Logline

A boy from São Bernardo’s housing projects who can’t swim finds in the ocean his only way out of addiction and violence, and a long road to the biggest waves on earth.

Lion meets Free Solo.

Spanning decades, Destemido follows Luna from a childhood in the Cohab estates, through addiction and the mentor and brother he loses along the way, to a surf boarding house in Florianópolis, years of exile from the water, and a reckoning with faith that brings him back to face Nazaré.

A Portuguese-language biographical drama in the tradition of Brazil’s new wave of international true stories, built for festivals, awards and a global audience.

Written by

Jack Cressall & Nick Page

Based on

The life of Marcelo Luna and his book Uma Onda Gigante

Genre

Biographical sports drama

Language

Portuguese

Status

Screenplay complete · In development

Script inquiry

The book

Uma Onda Gigante

A história de superação do surfista — the surfer’s story of overcoming.

Marcelo’s own account of his life, from the streets of São Bernardo to the giant waves of Nazaré, in his own words.

Buy the book