Miriam Joanna - Blue Tomato

Client: Blue Tomato, Pure Surf Camps Director: Miriam Joanna, WMNPR Cinematography, Editor: Miriam Joanna Water Cinematography: Eduardo Vento Additional Drone Footage: Maurizio Amicucci DOP: Miriam Joanna Sound Design: Lisa Aumaier Produced: Miriam Joanna, WMNPR

Synopsis:

LENNI is a portrait short film about the 20-year old professional Surfer Lenni Jensen on the island of Tenerife (Spain). Narrated by his childhood friend Marcella Machado, Lenni gives insight on who he is, the waves he surfs and most of all the style in which he surfs them.

Filming during a global pandemic can be nerve wrecking, particularly when it involves traveling to
different countries with the idea of an ideal set up and waves at a specific time.
Therefore the biggest challenge for our team on this job was not to break from the uncertainty of
what we'd get, but to turn it into creativity, to perceive the circumstances as opportunities and to
draw from them.

Filming with Lenni was as unique as the givens. He is an introvert as a person with extraordinary
surfing skills that should be experienced live. We did our best to put into pictures the skillset he
was able to put on show during the fraction of time we had to film 'LENNI'. Although he is a
reserved, rather shy person, yet everywhere you go everyone knows him. Born in Germany, raised
on the island of Tenerife he is as much a local as he is German. Its fascinating, to see how
someone can adapt so well in two so different cultures.

It was on one of our sunset shoots that Marcella and Lenni got the chance to share some waves
again for the first time in a very long time. Marcella was left in awe. It was then that Marcella
Machado told us the stories of Lenni's early surfing days and his unravelling progress throughout
the years. Her narration is now the voice-over to "Lenni", the film.