A surf lesson in Lagos, Nigeria, led filmmaker Geoff Browne to an unexpected story about a father trying to provide for his family.
The result is "Godpower," a short film rooted in the lives of the people who call Tarkwa Bay home.
Its success is now bringing attention to a surf community that deserves to be better known.
The story began with a T-shirt.
The film that brought two surfers together
Geoff Browne, a Canadian-American filmmaker, was in Lagos when he noticed that his old "The Endless Summer" shirt listed Nigeria among the places featured in the 1966 surf documentary.
Curious to discover a surf scene he had never known existed, he booked a lesson with Godpower Pekipuma through Instagram.
They agreed to meet under a bridge, and Browne soon learned that reaching the beach would require a boat ride.
Tarkwa Bay lies off the coast of Lagos, Nigeria's largest city.
The beach is a short boat ride from the mainland, but its setting feels removed from the traffic and noise of the metropolis.
Families gather on the sand, children play football and volleyball, and visitors eat freshly grilled fish while local surfers head into the water.
Browne arrived expecting a surf lesson.
Instead, he met a man whose own introduction to surfing had begun with the same film that inspired his visit.
Pekipuma, known as GP, had watched "The Endless Summer" as a child and become fascinated by the sight of surfers riding waves.
"I remember watching 'The Endless Summer' as a kid and thinking, Wow, look how these people are walking on water like Jesus Christ," Pekipuma told Vogue in 2017.
"I knew at that moment that I wanted to ride waves."
That shared connection gave Browne an idea.
Rather than make another surf travel film about discovering a new destination, he would tell a story about the people who live there.
A surf instructor trying to provide for his family
"Godpower" is a 16-minute narrative short built around a familiar challenge.
Pekipuma plays a surf instructor who hopes that a tourist's booking will earn him enough money to buy a birthday present for his son, Isaac.
As he tries to meet his family's needs, he faces a difficult choice that tests his priorities.
Surfing gives the story its setting, but the film's central conflict reaches beyond the lineup.
GP must balance his work with his responsibilities as a father, in a place where making a living can be difficult and opportunities are limited.
The real Pekipuma knows these pressures.
He runs a surf school at Tarkwa Bay, teaching visitors while encouraging local children to take up the sport.
The money paid by each student helps cover a free surf lesson for a child from the community.
Pekipuma hopes one of his young students will eventually represent Nigeria at the Olympic Games.
"I believe one of the kids in the community will represent Nigeria in the Olympics," he told Rolling Stone Africa.
A community in front of the camera
Browne wrote, directed and shot the film, working without a conventional crew.
He returned to Tarkwa Bay months after meeting GP, bringing a script shaped around the surfer's life and the place he calls home.
Production took two days, with residents helping to make the project possible.
The cast includes Pekipuma and his real-life son, Isaac, alongside other members of the Tarkwa Bay community.
None of the performers was a professional actor, according to Browne's account of the production.
Their familiarity with the setting gave the film access to everyday details that would be difficult to reproduce on a conventional set.
The production was also a test of patience.
Tarkwa Bay relies on generators for electricity, and the noise created problems for recording dialogue.
Browne describes asking people at a beachside bar to switch off the generator, put away their phones, and keep quiet while he filmed.
Turning off the generator also meant losing the power supply, leaving him racing against the batteries in his small lights.
He shot with a Canon C70 camera, two lenses, a DJI gimbal, a small tripod, wireless microphones and two compact LED tube lights.
Much of the lighting came from the available daylight.
Browne also edited the film with Garry M. B. Smith, while Dermot Shane handled the color grade in Vancouver.
Luc St. Pierre composed the original score, with vocals and percussion contributed by Nigerian musicians Sparoxzy and Ifedayo Folorunso.
The legacy of "The Endless Summer"
Bruce Brown's "The Endless Summer" helped turn surf travel into a global aspiration.
Released in 1966, the documentary followed surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August as they traveled around the world in search of the perfect wave.
Its popularity introduced audiences to unfamiliar coastlines and helped shape how generations of surfers imagined their lives beyond home breaks.
For Pekipuma, that journey began on a screen.
For Browne, the same film eventually led to a boat ride to Tarkwa Bay and a meeting with the man who would become the central figure in his own film.
The connection also raises a question about surf travel.
Beaches are often presented as destinations waiting to be discovered, while the people who live and work there remain in the background.
At Tarkwa Bay, the local surf community has its own history, knowledge and ambitions, long before a visitor arrives with a camera.
Zina Saro-Wiwa, an executive producer of "Godpower," praised Browne's collaboration with Pekipuma and the local community.
She said the film presents the people of Tarkwa Bay with dignity and offers audiences a view of Nigeria rarely seen on screen.
Producer Diana C. Zollicoffer also drew a connection between the two films, noting how "The Endless Summer" showed young white surfers sharing waves with African children.
Six decades later, she sees "Godpower" as an opportunity to place the people and experiences of an African coastal community at the center of their own story.
From Tarkwa Bay to Los Angeles
"Godpower" premiered at the 29th Dances With Films festival in Los Angeles in 2026, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film.
The jury described the film as "universally human" and "a cinematic gift," according to Rolling Stone Africa.
The film subsequently received a weeklong theatrical engagement at The Culver Theatre in Culver City, California, from September 18 to 24, 2026.
The run was described as Oscar-qualifying, making the short eligible for consideration under the applicable Academy Awards rules.
That does not mean the film has been nominated for an Oscar.
Its next significant stop is closer to home. "Godpower" has been selected for the 2026 Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) in Lagos, scheduled to run from November 1 to 7.
According to Browne, the award matters because it recognizes the people who trusted him with their time and their stories.
In his account of making the film, he recalls worrying that he might waste the community's efforts if he could not deliver a finished work that would give something back.
What comes next for Godpower
Pekipuma wants the film to help more people discover Tarkwa Bay and the surfing culture developing there.
He also hopes the attention will create opportunities for his family and for the young surfers he teaches.
His surf school is part of a broader effort to make surfing accessible to local children, many of whom have limited access to equipment and instruction.
In the past, some young surfers at Tarkwa Bay learned on improvised boards made from discarded wood.
Pekipuma's work gives them a way to build skills and join a growing community.
Browne is now preparing a feature-length version of "Godpower," planned as a 90-minute film that will expand on the characters and setting introduced in the short.
He hopes the project will lead to further acting opportunities for Pekipuma and bring more international attention to the community.
The planned feature will continue a story that began with a surf lesson, a shared love of an old documentary and a father trying to buy his son a birthday present.
According to Pekipuma, the ambition remains close to home: to build a future for his family and give the next generation of Tarkwa Bay surfers a chance to go further than he has.
por Surfing | News, Headlines and Top Stories https://ift.tt/VuZbzwh