New film champions women surfers tackling the huge waves of Nazaré
- Text by Sydney Lobe
- Photography by Maddie Meddings
Undercurrents — Filmmaker Maddie Meddings’ latest documentary focuses on big-wave superstar Laura Crane as she helps prepare 16-year-old Imari Hearn to take up big wave surfing.
Undercurrents, a new film by award-winning filmmaker and photographer Maddie Meddings, follows two British surfers – Laura Crane, one of the world’s most celebrated big-wave female surfers, and Imari Hearn, a young rising star – as they face Portugal’s infamous Nazaré waves.
Nazaré, a humble seaside fishing town north of Lisbon, is one of the world’s premier big wave hotspots. It holds the record for the largest wave ever surfed, with Sebastian Steudtner riding a 93.73ft (28.6m) barrel in 2020. The huge waves are formed by the merging of North Atlantic winter storms and an underwater canyon, which acts as a channel for Atlantic groundswells.
In 2024, former Huck cover star Crane became the first British woman to surf a 60ft wave at the spot, and in late 2025, she rode a huge wave that she believes was bigger than the existing world record held by a woman (73.5ft by Maya Gabeira in February 2020).
The documentary follows the pair as Crane helps to prepare 16-year-old Hearn to tackle a big wave at Nazaré, through practice sessions on the Mentawai Islands, ice baths and jet ski training – and finally their trip to Portugal. It explores the huge mental commitment it takes to surf big waves – where one wrong move could lead to serious injury – as well as the intense physical training that they undergo too. Both Crane and Hearn are members of Team O’Neill.
Meddings directed, filmed, and edited Undercurrents. “It’s so important to tell these stories of female athletes especially in extreme sports because they’re still a minority,” she said. “Physically mentoring them and paving the way for them to enter these arenas is the first, most important step, but then telling their stories is the second, so that those who might not have that opportunity themselves can still feel represented in media.”
Undercurrents is set to premier 10 April in Bristol, followed by a series of screenings across the UK throughout the rest of the month. For the full list and tickets, visit Maddie Meddings’s website.
Sydney Lobe is a freelance journalist. Follow her on Instagram.
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