Press Release
September 2023 – Many Brazilians fell in love with surfing watching the generation of idols on the world circuit that became known as the Brazilian Storm. For many, however, more than a competitive sport, surfing is a lifestyle, a spiritual connection with the world we inhabit.
Exploring this perspective, Brazilian directors Luiza de Andrade and Bia Vilela – known in the audiovisual market by the name Figas – created the short film “Presence”, available exclusively on the Vimeo platform. The film explores the journey of Thati Braun, an amateur surfer who looks to the sea to learn how to deal with her anxiety crises. For director Luiza de Andrade, surfing can be a therapy for those facing anxiety, a condition that is becoming increasingly common with contemporary working hours. “Anxiety is a silent contemporary epidemic and Thati has been there. Seeing the effect of surfing on her well-being was a revealing experience of the sport’s potential to connect us with nature and with ourselves. The concentration that surfing requires to read the signs of the sea provides a very intimate discipline, a shortcut to the serenity we need so much today,” explains the director.
“At this point in our lives, we’ve had enough experience to understand that life is cyclical. One day we’re at the top, the next we’re at the bottom, in a deep, unknown blue, also known as anxiety, depression, melancholy. It’s important to recognize that this is just a phase in order to have the strength to return to the surface, breathe and recover for the next journey, the next wave. ‘The new always comes’, that’s the most beautiful thing about surfing and life,” said director Bia Vilela.
Watch Presence
About UNTITLED
Untitled is an award-winning audiovisual production company whose main pillars are identity and diversity of thought. Created in 2019 by Karin Nantes and Mário Peixoto, it is part of the PAPAKI group of producers.
With a diverse roster of top-level directors, Untitled has different creative profiles and skills. The aim is to open up more and more ways to build imagery and sensory experiences with international production standards.
Untitled is advertising, content, art and hybridity in all its intensity.