Watch: Pertama: The Rio Waida Story

A film by Matt George and Fabian Von Holzen Nusa Cana, a legacy rum brand from Indonesia, had a unique idea when it came to making a short film on their brand ambassador Rio Waida. With Rio Currently ranked 20th in the world and a household name in Indonesia, Nusa Cana wanted to dive deeper into the origin story of Rio and his against-all-odds rise into the top ranks of the pro surfing. Not just your standard clips and chaos edit, the company, who remained the sole funder of the project, wanted to take a far more personal approach in order to feature the spirit of Indonesia as much as the incredible surfing of Rio Waida. Reaching out to Filmmakers Matt George and Fabian Von Holzen, the resulting collaboration was a very different vision for today’s surf media. Here is a film that slows things down and allows a very unique surfer to share his life, the challenges he has faced and his inner spiritual thoughts as he moves into the future on his hero’s journey.