{"id":151859,"date":"2021-11-17T11:33:28","date_gmt":"2021-11-17T21:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=151859"},"modified":"2024-03-15T22:25:38","modified_gmt":"2024-03-16T08:25:38","slug":"student-big-wave-surfer-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/11\/17\/student-big-wave-surfer-film\/","title":{"rendered":"Life of a UH<\/abbr> student, big wave surfer featured in new 2021 HIFF<\/abbr> film"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

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A University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa<\/a> student\u2019s decade-long quest to become one of the best in big wave surfing is the focus of a new film at the 2021 Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> International Film Festival<\/a> (HIFF<\/abbr>).<\/p>\n

Wrenna Delgado<\/strong> is a full-time Shidler College of Business<\/a> student, mother to her 5-year old daughter and intern of the non-profit organization Breast Cancer Hawaii. Earlier this year, the junior accounting major was the state\u2019s lone recipient of a $10,000 national scholarship<\/a> to benefit students toward a career as an auditor. The 32-year-old came to Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> from New Jersey when she was 19, hoping to become a professional big wave surfer.<\/p>\n

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The film Bigger Than Me<\/em> showcases Delgado\u2019s more than 10 year pursuit in big wave surfing—from Oʻahu<\/span>\u2019s iconic Waimea Bay, to the cold waters of Mavericks in Northern California, to the ultimate big waves of Peʻahi<\/span> (Jaws) on Maui. It captures Delgado\u2019s journey as she is confronted by the pressures of carving out a professional sporting life as a woman—without a sponsor—working two jobs to support her dream.<\/p>\n

“This film is the honest evolution of the first part of my life. I hope it makes people scoff, laugh, cry, question, but, most of all, reflect on what it means to truly accept yourself,” Delgado said. “It feels surreal to be in a film at HIFF<\/abbr>. I am so amazed that this film came to fruition after years of filming. The film being in the HIFF<\/abbr> is another level of bewilderment.”<\/p>\n

The 53-minute film premiered at HIFF<\/abbr> on November 9 at the newly renovated Consolidated Theatres Kahala. It is also available online from November 10-28 at the HIFF<\/abbr> website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A decade-long process<\/h2>\n
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Delgado and fellow members of Beta Alpha Psi, the premier international honor society for accounting students, watched the film on November 14.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Delgado said the film\u2019s director, Claire Gorman, contacted her in 2010, through a mutual surf friend, with an idea to follow and film an emerging female big-wave surfer for a winter season.<\/p>\n

“At that time there were very few women dedicated to surfing big waves and literally no publicity around it. Claire wanted to show what it was like for females forging a path in the male-dominated sport,” Delgado said.<\/p>\n

The initial plan was to film for about a year and then finish the production. However, Delgado said, “life happened and years passed.” Although the production wasn\u2019t yet complete, the pair developed a friendship and both started their own families.<\/p>\n

“As my life unfolded, Claire kept collecting little bits and moments of the ride,” Delgado said. “The budget was zero. Everything we did, we did out of dedication to the film.”<\/p>\n

Delgado and Gorman stuck to it and eventually finished the film in 2020 and entered it for consideration by HIFF<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n

“For 10 years, this film has been in the background of my life, sometimes I would be fed up with it, other times I thought it would never reach the public. But overall I felt committed to seeing it through and I am so overwhelmingly grateful that I got to be a part of something like this,” Delgado said.<\/p>\n

—By Marc Arakaki<\/em><\/p>\n

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Wrenna Delgado surfing off Oʻahu<\/span>‘s North Shore. (Photo credit: @ShannonReporting<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The film premiered at HIFF<\/abbr> in person on November 9 and is available online until November 28.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[753,498,646,146,660,9,1626],"class_list":["post-151859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-accounting","tag-business","tag-film","tag-shidler-college-of-business","tag-student-recognition","tag-uh-manoa","tag-women-of-uh","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t