One Winter Story

One Winter Story

Wednesday, January 25, 2017 - 6:30pm to 8:00pm
  • Library Hall
An unprecedented glimpse into the male-dominated world of big-wave surfing from an unusual and seldom seen perspective – a woman’s.

As women prepare to take on big-wave surfing in the first-ever women's heat in this winter's competition at Mavericks, we look back at the very first woman who ever rode this famously dangerous California wave. Seventeen years after her first ride, she's one of six women preparing to compete. Watch this award-winning film and join us for a Q&A with filmmaker Elizabeth Pepin Silva.

One Winter Story, a film by Sally Lundburg and Elizabeth Pepin Silva, is an unprecedented glimpse into the male-dominated world of big-wave surfing from an unusual and seldom seen perspective – a woman’s. This hour-long film explores the nature of fear and faith through the experience big-wave surf pioneer, Sarah Gerhardt. One Winter Story is a personal documentary that follows Sarah as she surfs Mavericks, a monstrous wave that breaks in the freezing, shark-infested waters off Half Moon Bay in Northern California.

Sarah’s journey to Mavericks was anything but easy. Surfing became her escape from the hardships of home and faith became the guiding force in her life. Sarah is a genuine big-wave pioneer, the first woman to surf what is one of the largest waves in the world. In the years she has been surfing the wave, Sarah has discovered that although she has many limitations, Mavericks allows her to live as though she doesn’t have any, bringing her peace as she finds her place in the lineup, and in the world. Also featured in the film are big wave surfers Mike Gerhardt, Ken Bradshaw, and Jenny Useldinger.

Watch the trailer

Run time: 1 hour

About the filmmaker
Elizabeth Pepin Silva is a filmmaker, photographer, researcher,writer, and surfer born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and now living in Ventura County, CA. For nearly two decades she has been making films independently and for PBS and has won five Emmy Awards and several film festival awards for her television and documentary film work. Her numerous projects include Slow the Flow, Coastal Clash,” and One Winter Story. Elizabeth was a staff producer at KQED, the public television station in San Francisco, where most recently she was Series Producer of “Truly CA,” a documentary series featuring films about the Golden State.Elizabeth’s photographs have been shown in galleries and museums and featured in publications around the world. She has been the principal photographer for three women’s surf books and has written a book on the history of San Francisco’s Fillmore Jazz district, Harlem of the West, published by Chronicle Books in 2006. Elizabeth holds a Bachelors of Arts in Journalism from San Francisco State University.