INTO THE STORM : EN LA TORMENTA
Producers: Adam Brown, Dimitri Doganis
Executive Producers: Mandy Chang, Hayley Reynolds
Editor: Paul Holland
84 mins

SYNOPSIS
After finding a broken surfboard on his local beach, Jhonny Guerrero, a teenager from one of Peru’s toughest barrios, sets his heart on becoming a professional surfer. With his father in prison for armed robbery and a mother struggling to feed and clothe his younger brother, the sea is his escape.

When Jhonny is spotted by Peru’s most successful surf champion, Sofia Mulanovich, he is taken under her wing and given a chance to succeed. Yet the pressure to do so weighs hard. Without his dad around, the lure of his friends and the risks of life in the barrios threaten to jeopardise everything he has worked for. When he’s injured outside a nightclub in a drive-by shooting, Jhonny is forced to decide once and for all which path to take.

BROADCAST BY BBC4 ON 24TH FEBRUARY 2021

“One of those magnificently unlikely stories so frequently unearthed by this documentary strand”
Phil Harrison, The Guardian 

★★★★
“inspirational documentary”
Daily Mail

“this beautiful, visceral story of a teenager’s struggle to overcome serious class and financial disadvantages”
Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph

★★★★★
“award winning film”
The Mail on Sunday

“Adam Brown’s tense, empathetic film follows Guerrero over five years as he pursues his aim of becoming a pro surfer”
Victoria Segal, The Sunday Times

“Adam Brown’s tender Storyville film contrasts Jhonny’s harsh urban milieu of robberies and drug deals with the beauty of his salty escapes”
Ben Dowell, The Times - Saturday Review

“we really feel the high stakes…you’ll be holding your breath”
Radio Times

"This sports documentary has novelty on its side as we ride the crest of the wave with Jhonny Guerrero”
Keith Watson, The Metro