Filmmaker Statement

Years ago my future in-laws played me a VHS tape from Heron Island in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Archival footage shows abundant coral, happy vacationers and contestants of the 1950 ‘Miss Underwater’ pageant lining up to be judged - by men. A woman up back shrinks behind the others, looking desperately like she’d rather be anywhere else. I remembered this woman. Fast forward to 2021. I’m reading a NYT article, “Primal Scream: Three Mothers on the Brink”. It tells the story of overburdened women hiding in their closets, unraveling. Miss Underwater encapsulates my desire and the desire of so many women to break free from the stranglehold of expectation and objectification inflicted by the patriarchy, everything that makes us feel we need to hide or diminish our authentic selves. This film is my exploration of a woman returning home to herself, embracing a wilder, more joyous, complex and emboldened existence, mirrored by the vast, untamed beauty of the ocean.