Creative production company We Are Royale (WAR) has created the opening titles for the documentary feature Wade in the Water: A Journey Into Black Surfing and Aquatic Culture. Directed, written, and produced by David Mesfin, Wade in the Water recently made its U.S. premiere to a sold out audience at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Film Synopsis:
Wade in the Water reclaims the 1,000-year-old tradition of Black surfing … Honoring the historical and contemporary relationship between Black people and the ocean, Mesfin explores the undying, intergenerational energy of Black waterwomen and watermen.
Breaking barriers in the world of film, the ultimate intention of the project is to inspire and support the next generation of Black surfers by connecting them to the powerful, dynamic, and resilient roots of Black surfing’s legacy.
The project includes a full-length documentary paired with a series of limited-edition fine art portrait prints and NFTs.
To create the film’s lush animated opening sequence, WAR took inspiration from the African mythological water deity Mami Wata to tell a story of ancestral reconnection through surfing. The piece is made up of painterly vignettes which blend aesthetic influences from African folk art and iconic Neo-expressionist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
As the studio team points out, the spiritual “Wade in the Water” took on a coded meaning in Songs of the Underground Railroad as Harriet Tubman instructed enslaved African Americans to hide in water to mask their scent from tracking dogs. In the animated sequence, water is a symbol of redemption and empowerment as the goddess calls the surfer back to the waves.
“We were drawn to the spiritual aspect of David’s film and the relationship between surfing and Black identity, so, this idea of baptism by water emerged,” says WAR Creative Director Norn Jordan. “At the start, visually, everything on the surface of water feels light and uncomplicated; but when the surfer duck-dives under the wave, the ocean materializes into a darker, more complex world. We used imagery of serpents and shackles breaking apart to visually hint at the baptism that comes through Mami Wata’s reveal.”
Mesfin adds, “When you duck-dive, there’s a brief moment when you almost lose consciousness and become one with something bigger than yourself, and that feeling really speaks to the larger theme of Wade in the Water — being Black and reconnecting with your past and your identity through the ocean. WAR’s title sequence brilliantly encapsulates this idea with an Afro-centric visual narrative that celebrates surfing as a source of empowerment and healing. It’s a powerful piece of art in and of itself.”
WAR used archival footage to authentically capture the surfing moves animated in the opener, and took inspiration from the same source materials Mesfin accessed for the documentary — such as the books AFROSURF by Mami Wata Surf Brand (South Africa), Undercurrents of Power: Aquatic Culture in the African Diaspora by Kevin Dawson, and Living the California Dream: African American Leisure Sites during the Jim Crow Era by Alison Rose Jefferson.
The team pulled iconography of Mami Wata and the serpents from these books, as well as allusions to Sankofa, a West African bird symbol, whose name literally translates to, “it is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.”
“The symbolism of the Sankofa was a big part of the documentary’s message; this idea of looking to your past to move forward,” concludes Mesfin. “We chose to use it more subtly, incorporating it into the Mami Wata character at the end when she blows a kiss to the surfer, freeing him from the weight of the water and back to the ocean’s surface.”
Wade in the Water and the animated opening sequence were directed by Mesfin, set to a poem by Mesfin and Napper Tandy, produced by Kira Gilmore Linton and Beyin Abraha. Jason Cook is executive creative director for We Are Royale, with Norn Jordan as CD, Michael Cauchi as producer and animation by Jared Norby and Dylan Casano.
Creative production studio WAR is based in Los Angeles and Seattle. The shop has delivered multiple projects for top video game companies like Riot, Activision Blizzard, Square Enix, Niantic, Bungie, PlayStation and Oculus, as well as work for clients including Audible, Comedy Central, FXX, Paramount Pictures and Prime Video. Learn more at weareroyale.com.
Learn more about Wade in the Water and find upcoming screenings at wadeinthewaterproject.com.
