Girls from Sao Tome and Principe have become the face of black surfers

Photos and videos of girls from the village of Santana in Sao Tome will become part of the collection of one of the largest image banks in the world as part of an initiative to promote the representation of black surfers.

The initiative is the result of a partnership between Cascais-based NGO Surfistas Orgulhosas na Mulher d’África (SOMA), online betting platform Betclic Portugal and North American global image bank Shutterstock.

The project will feature 120 photographs and 30 videos of surfing girls from Santana, the capital of Cantagalo district, in Sao Tome and Principe, on Shutterstock’s website of more than 400 million images.

The idea came about while making a film to raise donations for SOMA, when it was discovered that there were no images of black surfers in the world’s major image banks.

“To surf and participate in championships you need money. It’s kind of a privileged sport and black surfers are not represented,” Ricardo Malaquias, project manager for Betclic Portugal, who invited Shutterstock to join him, told Lusa. initiative.

The project also includes a documentary film, produced by Shutterstock and available this Tuesday on YouTube, about the work of SOMA, which four years ago brought its surf therapy program to the small town of Sao Tome.

Film “Surfing Against All Odds | The SOMA Surfing Story” (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PTymOYvMQE) sums up the reality of the girls in Santana in just 18 minutes, as many others match. offices in Sao Tome and Principe, as well as in Africa.

Burdened with household chores from an early age, at risk of dropping out of school and in early pregnancy, and often victims of physical and psychological abuse, the film wants to reinforce the idea that a woman’s place is not in the kitchen or in caring for the home, but children.men, but wherever they want, including surfing.

Filmed in June, the documentary premiered last week at the Santana Social Center and was enthusiastically received by the girls who filled most of the room.

Zezinha, 19, one of the documentary’s main subjects, attended the premiere with a bucket on her head, taking advantage of the opportunity to sell coconut cookies that are the mainstay of a family with an absent father and elderly mother. 73 people who cannot work due to disability.

“Surfing taught me to believe that anything is possible. When I stay in the water or look at the sea, I only think about myself. When I surf, all the problems stay at home, when I return, the problems come too.” back,” he told Lusa before returning home to bake a new batch of cookies that would be sold the next day.

Francisca Sequeira, founder of SOMA, at the end of the show emphasized the importance of these girls’ pioneering role in representing black women in surfing and in inspiring other women to take up surfing.

“You are the first generation of women in Sao Tome to surf. You must be very proud to continue surfing despite the tough waves at sea and in life,” she said.

The documentary, which will be launched at an event this Tuesday in Lisbon, will follow a series of surf film festivals, starting with the Surf at Lisbon Film Fest in early November and then heading to London, the US and Australia. .

The target audience for this project is potential donors, brands buying images from image banks and media outlets, and the idea is to create a demand for images of black surfers that has not existed until now.

“All purchases of these images go back to SOMA. We are practically creating a business model that will become self-sustaining. Now we need to create a need for company x or y, when they need a surfer image, to be able to “use them” rather than the stereotypical Californian surfer, explained Miguel Dominguez of Betclic Portugal.