CHICKS ON BOARDS

CHICKS ON BOARDS
Dir.: Dörthe Eickelberg | 81 min. | 2019
 
A Mangai in conversation with Dörthe Eickelberg  
 
Surfing is about expressing freedom. But this freedom between the sky and sea has its limits, especially to women when they return to solid grounds. In many cultures a woman on a surfing board is seen as an insult, often synonymous with exclusion, sanction, sometimes facing serious consequences. Some ignore this danger, and continue to surf. In the five part documentary series Chicks On Boards, Dörthe Eickelberg, ARTE presenter and passionate surfer, begins a world tour to meet young women who despite their religion, skin color, or tradition want to conquer freedom on their surfing boards. Even if it implies losing everything, they have.
 
Dörthe Eickelberg is a Berlin based filmmaker and TV host. In Iceland, she shot elves (on film) for the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. The result, the award-winning documentary FAIRIES and other tales, toured festivals from America to Zimbabwe. . Dörthe Eickelberg is a guest lecturer at Tübingen University and the renowned film schools in Ludwigsburg, Potsdam and Berlin. The Goethe-Institut invited her to conduct improv theatre workshops all over India, while the European Space Agency ESA commissioned her with the media coaching of their future astronaut. After a thorough wave check, Dörthe turned her passion for surfing and her crave for social justice to write and direct CHICKS ON BOARDS. The prize winning film is still touring festivals, while the TV series was aired all over Europe and in 20 countries worldwide, including the UK, the US and China.
 
A. Mangai is the pseudonym of Padma Venkataraman, who has been active in Tamil theater for almost three decades. Her works center on gender. She strives to make her artistic, activist, and academic selves meet. She translates fiction and nonfiction works from Tamil into English and vice versa.