Brainwaves

US · 101 min

• Documentary

Directed by: Bryan Rawles

From the director Bryan Rawles and the cinematographer Toby Thiermann comes Brainwaves, an immersive documentary that uses the raw, kinetic world of big wave surfing a lens to explore one of the brains final frontiers, traumatic brain injury. Through intimate, at times harrowing, first person accounts from elite athletes like Kai Lenny, Albee Layer, and Shawn Dollar, the film reveals an invisible epidemic hiding in plain sight, with implications far beyond the surf. These are not just stories of injury, but of identity resilience, and the silent costs of chasing the extraordinary. With cinematic surf sequences, emotional depth, and insights from leading researchers, Brainwaves challenges what we think we know about the brain, trauma, and the human drive to test our limits. What begins as a film about surfing becomes something deeper, a haunting, revelatory exploration of the mind's fragility and strength.