Meet the Filmmaker Adrielle Eispu

Adrielle Eispu is the director of Let it Go / Deixe Ir, screening at this year’s Women’s Surf Film Festival.

Where did you grow up and where do you call home now?

I was born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil from an Italian–russian family – where I currently live.

How did you get started in the surf film industry?

This was my first time directing a surf film. I already knew Livia Sousa, a surfer who wrote a book about her experiences surfing. One day, she sent me her book, and immediately connected with her story, because in a way, I experienced the exact same thing: I had to take a leap of faith to follow my dream to become a filmmaker– the first person in my family to follow an artistic career. She asked if I and the producers would be interested in adapting her book into a short-film – and we were totally in!

What’s different about directing a surf film than a more mainstream film?

Filming “Let it go” was an unique experience. Everything since the begging of the production flowed very smoothly, and you could see that everyone was enjoying and happy during shooting. We only got a little concerned because the main actress had never surfed before, but she turned out amazing and even succeeded standing on the board for some takes. But overall, I felt filming this film more easygoing than a mainstream film. Our crew is great, and we had an amazing time making “Let it go”.

What do you hope the audience takes away from the film? 

From the start, the only thing that Livia asked me was to make an inspirational film, especially for women to start surfing. And that’s what I want most with “Let it go”: to inspire women (and everyone who watches it) to free themselves and to not be afraid of following their dreams and be whoever they want to be.

What made you decide to film exclusively on an iPhone 14 Pro?

What made me decide to film in iPhone 14 Pro was the easiness and especially because we had a lot of scenes in the sea, so we had to have an equipment that would be more practical and easy to carry.