OBSEASSION (FULL MOVIE) Laure Mayer and friends claiming their spot in the line up in West Europe

We used to go out when were young And besides don't ever tell my parents that Damn they don't know That's true too Let's cut this Screw the smoothies We're eating chips and drinking beers I'm sorry Actually I love surfing And it's true that surfing alone is really cool But in reality surfing with friends is ten times better When I go out into the ocean there are so many emotions In short in one word it's love Definitely now in the water there are a few more girls It's getting better More better When Laura brought up this project I immediately fell in love with the idea—simply because it was conceived by a woman for other women It's incredible that I can go on a trip with six different girls and still share the same love and passion That's not to say men aren't included Of course There's a cameraman over there But it really seems to be improving women 's lives It's truly awesome I love it It's Barambay where I go to surf and where I've lived for 12 years That's where I discovered the waves at I wanted to surf every day of my life It took me years to reach this goal but I've always dreamed of being a surfer So little by little I've managed to organize my life around this Today I sketched technical surfwear for women so they feel comfortable and confident throughout their journey Living in Australia has made me realize that the culture of surfing has been deeply rooted in the lives of the population for decades and that women have been surfing for over a hundred years Surfing is evolving around the world but not at the same pace—and this is especially true within the female community In Europe the culture of surfing is a bit younger Across countries and from region to region cultural norms vary With this the role of women in water is also changing But the codes are shifting And I wanted to meet some of these women who are drawn to surfing and who may inspire us even more to come join them in the water with confidence owing that a strong community lies ahead Today I’m returning to my path where it all began the Basque Country in France—a dreamlike place in the southwest where I was born between the mountains and the ocean and where I fell in love with the sea I'm meeting my friends Estelle Paula Andrea Ria and Inès I took a road trip from France to Spain and I completed my journey in Portugal They are teachers photographers models artists and like me They turned their daily lives into surfing Coming back here is a good excuse to revisit the culture and cuisine The Basque region is one of the richest among the cultural sites on Earth the Saint-Jean-de- Luz market is a perfect showcase of traditional cuisine fresh fruits and vegetables to hundreds of flavored cheeses I could talk about food for hours but it's time to visit one of my closest friends Estelle They met in the water always holding on to each other despite the distance and she lives just above his local stop and she is probably the most avid surfer I know Laure she's one of my earliest close surfing friends We became really really close She told me here I have a project and I'd really like you to be involved So there I was thinking what It doesn't go to my head There are plenty of girls who surf better than me and they're on no network There you go I'm not actually in the system to be honest Then she said no absolutely it's a completely different profile You represent another type of surfer Estelle has to be part of this journey She's a superhero to me She's a woman a mother of two A teacher at the school It's like 0.8 with 18 periods Eighteen periods I started surfing around the age of eighteen I think But you're not immediately in the flow when learning to surf In fact at first the balance is quite a challenge We put in a lot of effort for little reward Then things balance out And then they tip over That is I no longer feel like I'm making any effort And I feel as though I'm purely in pleasure Being a teacher is a profession that offers free time That means there are the hours spent in front of students Then there's all my preparation time and copy editing And that time in fact I schedule according to Time I set aside for surfing I'm just coming off a session but I've got endless patience I'm super calm totally relaxed When we simulate we end up right in front of the sea and we comment on the sea and say " Wow there are some great waves today " My children they're going to say "What a liar " Like yeah you know that girl she's always totally chill No I'm not always completely relaxed But on the other hand after surfing I feel calm And that sense of ease can last for quite a while Several hours yes The consequence of frequently surfing regularly is that afterward I end up feeling a bit panicked To handle everything else still So I run I run I run all day long I can't make it to a medical appointment If there were nice waves it wouldn't be possible So I canceled it It was ugly it wasn't right When it's time to book them I always do so with my calendar already set and I only schedule appointments at high tide I think the most difficult time was when the children were little And there we had quite a debate with Loïc over who would go surfing who would get to surf before the wind changes who goes surfing before it gets too high They still watched Harry Potter the longest movie ever made several times I admit We'll also check those four hours The center gives a small boost No but anyway the end of the descent is definitely awful Unless the inside one gets up No but we're waiting We need to pass the bag right here Yes yes we'll pack the bags And we'll see what comes next Come on we'll see what comes next Surfing has always defined my life Because I can't remember a time when I wasn't doing it In Portugal there's a reason for which many people don't ride It's true the waves are good enough for that So when I ride boards that are very different who have different conditions I'm struggling a bit So I end up surfing a little less That's when I pack my bags and I'm going somewhere else And it's just a vicious cycle I'm obsessed with surfing That's what I do every single day That's what I need to be happy It's terrible to say such a thing perhaps Or maybe it's even more beautiful to say it Because it's a drug that's healthy The ocean can heal in many ways Perhaps one day you fell Or are you sick because I don't know you've got the flu Then you go browsing and suddenly feel better Once you start surfing it becomes just a part of you—it 's simply your everyday thought What are the waves like Will they be good in the morning Will they be good in the afternoon Oh tomorrow will be good at 6 a m So I'm not going out tonight We find our balance through practice in the time we spend at the ocean—a moment free from phones There's no appointment there's no obligation Or if you do have them after all When you're in the water you don't think about it And there's one thing I really love about surfing The thing is there's no age no social status In fact we don't even know what people do for a living And we couldn't care less At the end of a great wave I scream with joy—and it's not something I can calculate I just feel like screaming with joy And in life there aren't many situations where you still feel like shouting with joy I surf I don't watch videos none of that matters to me I'm not going to watch competitions either I couldn't care less What I love is being in the water and surfing And Laure she's one of the first girls where I thought to myself how beautiful it could be I ended up with the classic longboard because it's a longboard that's much more about grace aesthetics and style what could possibly be considered at the time the high-performance longboard that was still appearing in the media where people were almost trying People were trying to do shortboarding on a large board And when I arrived in Australia There were many people riding old boards and the idea was truly more about working on a wave where you're just trying to glide to truly experience it not just carving turns in every direction When I went to Australia I began to realize that some surfers They were smiling which I found ridiculous but to me it was new It took me a while to figure out what they all had in common And it was the longboard they were longboarders And possibly I was still a bit hesitant and it took me a while to say yes to trying longboarding But when I did it was like s new world of surfing Words can describe so many things but to break away from a wave is to destroy it I don 't want to destroy anything Surfing doesn't have to be so complicated—it's not about all those gadgets it's about working hard and riding the wave I'm a very visual person so I enjoy doing it but I also just like being outside and watching When there are so many people in the water riding the waves on longboards it's absolutely breathtaking to watch The beauty of longboarding and the beauty a woman can bring to the ocean— it's just incredible The result can be truly amazing when love is put into it We're finally on the road in Cantabria a beautiful stretch of the Spanish coast but along the way we'll be stopping San Sebastián one of the most iconic cities of the Basque Country lives Paula a highly talented photographer who loves curves and the aesthetic that women bring to the board She has so much to say and I can't wait to have her on the road with us It's so beautiful I can't believe it With my photography or what I do I can bring a touch of the feminine side of sports And that's my favorite part I just love being able to share my perspective on surfing which is completely different from a man's It's seen differently— I'm not saying it's better or worse it's just different because we don't just want to capture the curve We want to capture femininity When I film underwater what I try to do is stay on the outside observe the waves see how they work and where they end where the surfer catches a wave and the instant I see it I decide I want to be there I want to take that photo I want to take this angle Every detail matters in a photograph —the movement of the arms how they cross and I always want to be too close which is a bit tricky but I love it because I think it's the best photo when there 's water or just the surfer turning in front of the camera I'm really happy I love this kind of photo I'd like her to be more focused but it's hard Not perfect but imperfectly beautiful I can't tell you what the surfer showed me but what I can say is that the person I am now is far better at the person I was Spain is really expensive for me There's a growing community of surfers along the coast and increasingly more women are taking up longboarding my friend Andrea teaches surfing in Cantabria I still think about it I check the height It's already done inside you Remember what we're talking abou Korean girls are doomed—this is what they call the first part of the session It's incredible being alone here We need a perfect moment Andrea is a free spirit the very essence of what it means to be a surfer and it's so beautiful to witness She is unbearable passionate and humble she is a true symbol and a genuine inspiration to us all she did everything she could o live close to the best of Spa What I love about surfing is that I can share my passion for the ocean with so many people The ocean changes you And maybe it doesn't have a purpose but I mean being happy is a good purpose in life isn't it I've been living here so far in my little van I like to keep things simple I don't know how to put it but I want to live close to nature If there's something you want to believe it's simply that everything that sends you guidance is helping you and once you believe in the nature of things You feel protected everywhere and the house is everywhere I believe in honoring a place by loving it and giving it back if you add soy milk and a bit of this It's going to make yogur When I step into the ocean there's a deep rush of emotion—put simply it's love I'm utterly in love and it's also poetry for me there are no borders and I really want to say I feel that there are no borders between my skin and the skin of the ocean Sometimes when I look at the surface it's like the skin of a bird I call it and I feel that we are a family that's where I recharge that's where I feel truly myself genuinely myself for better and for worse it's been a mirror to realize how sometimes I can be very aggressive maybe or sometimes I take things too seriously and the ocean also told me Don't take yourself so seriously just let it go— it's just how I feel I can see it myself and relax The next step I worked for two years in this car and poured so much energy and faced many problems It's not a fairytale this winter I just want to surf I want to take my time to grow stronger in powerful lives —I love powerful lives though I'm always a little afraid but it's my project in a short time like this winter The best part was that it was just the three of us—so adorable There are always fingers That's the problem e program was changing so we enjoyed Cantabria to the very end—it's always a little sad to leave our friends I think that's why I smile when I'm in the water—I think it's because when I'm in the water with my friends I'm sure I'm in the right place with the right people 1 2 3 su In the sunlight I don't know why but I'm certain that's it 1 of 25 Ashton her smile a huge smile I thought to myself who is this girl her level is impressive it allows me to do new things and try new things We became friends started filming and I don't think there's a single photo of her that doesn't show her smiling laughing always mega chaka mini chaka nomo chaka I loved her dedication—she was still quite committed wasn't afraid to go inside right among the boys even though she was on a longboard I absolutely loved it because she was always incredibly cheerful always smiling she is truly what I was explaining earlier —the smile I think everyone knows it I love watching women surf because so often we're just messing around with each other and yet I still feel this joy this happiness for my friends' waves I surfed twice I surfed my waves but I surfed the waves of my friends Now in the water there are still a few girls—things are getting better and better It gradually becomes clear that we can do exactly the same thing as men—and do it in a different way Oh my goodness it's so beautiful Where's the boat We knew the surf delay wasn't going to be ideal but I really wanted to visit Inès and Ria two young Portuguese surfers ahead of their time driven by strong beliefs and a determination to make a difference they are truly inspiring because they live by their values Being a woman isn't easy but it's incredible it's wonderful —I absolutely love being a woman even though it's not easy feeling the need to be a certain way there 's been a shift but there's still much to be done in Portuguese surfing As a woman you really have to act like a man and if I wanted to be at the top under the best possible conditions I had to show myself as extremely especially if you're trying to find the right ones—back then I was a skilled surfer and I was one of the good ones I feel like you constantly have to prove yourself but you're truly exceptional—there are incredible women doing extraordinary things and we don't need to o show people that we're truly skilled surfing isn't about the female body— it's about what we can do and that has nothing to do with our physical form because it's not at all important in sports If the goal for men is how they perform in the water it should be the same for women We are increasingly finding our place in a feminine style of surfing that is distinct and beautiful I didn't have feminine energy flowing through me until very late in life—I wonder how I can be a role model an inspiration for women and people in general because we all need to be aware in order to change the culture of surfing which in Europe is vibrant and truly magnificent and this journey along the road was unforgettable and this experience exceeded my expectations showing me that the future of surfing will be more diverse more inclusive and that women have a vital role to play as they shape its evolution e surf of tomorrow