New Documentary "PORTRAIT OF A SURFER"
- Presidential Productions
- Jan 1, 2016
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 29, 2025
Presidential Production Explores Surf Culture, the Sea and Identity
In a cinematic landscape often dominated by flashy edits, fast cuts, and thrill-seekers’ bravado, James Cunningham's Portrait of a Surfer stands apart as a quietly powerful and deeply reflective short documentary. Crafted by the independent Australian filmmaker and released in 2016 by Presidential Productions, this film offers viewers not just surf action, but a textured, almost lyrical invitation to explore the ocean, identity, and what it means to belong to the sea.
Set against the rugged and breathtaking coastline of Western Australia, Portrait of a Surfer features local Perth surfer and model Kieran, who appears as himself. Cunningham’s approach is anything but conventional; rather than presenting a linear 'day in the life' or a competitive surf-biopic, he opts for something more poetic. The result is not a standard documentary, but a visual meditation, a 'portrait in the truest sense.
Through carefully framed shots, gentle pacing, and a narrative design that blurs the lines between reality and performance, the film captures surfing not just as sport, but as a way of life; a ritual, a state of mind, a relationship between a person and the sea. Each frame becomes a painting: torso half-submerged in water, a surfboard slicing through sun-dappled waves, solitude at dawn, footprints on damp sand, introspective gazes, a naked young body under the shower, images that linger beyond the final cut.
What elevates Portrait of a Surfer beyond a simple surf reel is its ambition to probe deeper questions. Who is the person behind the board? What do they carry with them, beyond wax and wetsuit? What turns the ocean from a backdrop into an element that shapes self-conception?
As Leighton rides waves, wades through breakers, or walks the wind-blown coast, viewers sense an intimacy — a quiet internal dialogue between man and sea, between memory and longing. Cinematography serves not as spectacle but as emotional architecture: the shifting light on water, the stillness between swells, the pause between action and thought. In this restrained space, the film asks: what does it mean to belong to a coastline? What does it mean for the coastline to belong to you?
In many ways, the film is a refusal — a refusal of sensationalism, of “surf porn,” of danger-worship. Instead, it embraces vulnerability, reflection, and the poetic potential of silence. It is a manifesto of calmness: that surfing is as much about being as about doing, as much about waiting as about riding.
Portrait of a Surfer reflects the broader ethos of Presidential Productions: independent, introspective, willing to embrace risk in pursuit of art. James Cunningham and his team — operating outside the constraints of big-budget studios — demonstrate faith in minimalism, in the power of restraint.
This project sits alongside a diverse slate of other short films: from intense thrillers to emotionally driven narratives, spanning surf, psychological drama, and human struggle. Such breadth reveals a production company unafraid to navigate different genres and moods, and to champion stories that demand contemplation, not just applause.
In the world of surf documentaries, many focus on adrenaline: big waves, pro athletes, tight editing, slick soundtracks. There's value in that, for sure. Yet Portrait of a Surfer serves as a powerful counter-voice — gentle, contemplative, human.
Whether you’re a surfer, a film lover, or simply someone who finds calm in water and sky, Portrait of a Surfer is worth your time. It’s not about high-score heat — it’s about humanity, longing, identity. It’s quiet, not loud; introspective, not flashy. In an age where media often shouts for attention, this film whispers.
In watching it, you might find yourself holding your breath between waves. You might find yourself listening — not just to the surf, but to your own thoughts. And you might remember what it felt like on the edge of a wave: vulnerable, hopeful, connected.
PORTRAIT OF A SURFER has screened at select festivals and galleries, is not made publicly available. Lean more about the film here.
