HOT SPRINGS DOCUMENTARY FF INTERVIEWS: Minna Dufton talks about her film, BIG VS SMALL

Minna Dufton’s BIG VS SMALL profiles giant wave surfer in Portugal, Joana Andrade. She is literally, a diminutive woman in stature, but large in spirit. The film isn’t just reporting on her past accomplishments though. Dufton follows Andrade as she prepares herself to take on the next big wave. To do so, she’ll need to overcome some personal hurdles that could literally mean life or death in the event that she would get knocked off her board. And maybe surprisingly, she’ll need to train under an ice shelf in order to do it.

Anytime, a documentarian focuses their camera on a dynamic personality like Andrate, a film can lose itself in their personality or become sidetracked due to their desires to lead the director and us down a different path due to ego. In this case, Dufton gives us a full portrait of a young woman who has carved a singular niche in the world despite family resistance, despite sexism, and despite really huge, dangerous waves.

In the interview, Dufton and I talk about the challenges in capturing what she needed for the film and managing that relationship throughout the filing process. We also discuss filming and moviemaking in extreme environments to not just get footage but to get it as safely as possible, as well as the tenuous nature of directing by webcam.