Film and cast members from La Jolla have produced a film documentary, “SALTWATERx,” about adaptive surfers overcoming their disabilities with the aid of the ocean’s healing and therapeutic power.

Adaptive surfing enabling those with disabilities to surf can be done while sitting on the board with the athlete using a paddle to get in front of the wave. Alternatively, riders can stay lying on their stomachs like boogie boarding. Some surfers can even get themselves into a standing position with the help of adaptive equipment.

“SALTWATERx,” which stands for Saltwater prescription, was screened previously in May at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla. The film has an upcoming screening at the Coronado Island Film Festival on Nov. 8.

“SALTWATERx” co-producers are the mother-son team Stephanie and Brett Hoffman of La Jolla Shores. Stephanie was the executive producer, and Brett was the director, editor, and cinematographer for his Nautilus Studios Production.

The film’s subjects were Alphanso Kwame Appleton, Lorraine Schmalenberger, Attila Tota, and Quinn Waitley. The surf documentary was filmed in La Jolla, Point Loma, Encinitas, Oahu, and Tahiti.

La Jolla Village News caught up with the Hoffmans and one of the film’s four characters, Waitley, to talk about the documentary’s purpose.

“Where the film came from is we had been attending a lot of lectures on ocean conservation, and we felt there was a lot of messaging on the ‘gloom and doom’ of the oceans on climate change,” said Stephanie Hoffman. “So I asked my son if we could have a different kind of message. And the message would be, ‘Why don’t we talk about all the benefits we get from the ocean?’”

Consequently, Stephanie said they came up with a cast of four storytellers who’ve all been through intensive grief and loss with big challenges in their lives.

“We see how the ocean has softened their pathway (in the film), and how the ocean has helped heal them,” Stephanie said. “Within those four storytellers, we have three medical doctors who weave in their medical opinions. It’s a one-hour documentary about the healing modality of the ocean.”

Waitley noted she is one of two adaptive surfers in “SALTWATERx,” adding she and her family run a nonprofit called Team Quinn, which she said “takes people with any type of disability out in the water.”

Waitley said she and Stephanie Hoffman met by accident one day while she was surfing on the beach. “Steph asked, ‘What’s happening?’” noted Waitley adding, “That’s how Steph and I got connected.”

“There was just a story there: She’s (Quinn’s) her own story,” noted Stephanie of her first encounter with Waitley. She added the young woman’s smile and joy of “having a positive time” in the ocean, encouraged her to “want that messaging.” And “SALTWATERx” was the result.

Of the point of “SALTWATERx,” and what she’d like viewers to get out of the film about adaptive surfing, Waitley said: “It’s brought my family closer because I do need assistance in the water. I just hope, when I share my story, that it will encourage people, no matter their age or whether they’re disabled or not, to get out on the water and try surfing.

“If I can surf lying down – a lot of other people can do a lot of cool stuff on a surfboard.”

FILM SUBJECTS

Alphanso Kwame Appleton, 29, from Liberia, Africa, has survived three major devastating traumas in his life, including the 15-year civil war in his country, which he fled by boat as well as the life-threatening Ebola outbreak, which took the lives of his friends and neighbors But the ocean reminds him to live – and smile again. The film sees him surf off the north shore of Oahu.

Lorraine Schmalenberger, 64, struggling with end-stage breast cancer, shares her emotional story of barely surviving tongue-biting seizures and cancer meds with nauseous hangovers for days. Having grown up in La Jolla Shores, she speaks of her joyous pre-cancer life as a surfer, ocean swimmer, and body surfer, and how growing up at the beach was her way of coping with life’s stresses.

Attila Tota, 65, and a group of teenage boys share their personal stories; an abusive father, child protective services placing them in a foster care home, and a family history of abandonment and neglect. Attila is one of the program directors for Boys to Men, a nonprofit serving as surrogate fathers or big brothers, mentoring and showing fatherless teenage boys a way to manhood and a better life. He talks about the arduous obstacles and relentless struggles these boys have gone through.

Quinn Waitley, 29, is a quadriplegic born with cerebral palsy. She was introduced to sports early on and grew up playing adaptive basketball, rugby, and soccer. In 2013, Quinn fell in love with adaptive skating and surfing, helping her to gain a new perspective and confidence in living with a disability. Her family embraced her love of surfing establishing “Team Quinn” to help support her. Currently, Quinn is on the US Adaptive Surf team and competes in their Assisted Prone Division with the help of her father, David, who pushes her into waves.

FILMMAKERS – Stephanie Hoffman MS, PT, has extensive experience in sports medicine and orthopedics with a private practice in La Jolla Shores. Over 35 years in medicine have inspired her to educate others with new ways of looking at disease and injury. While taking numerous patients out to the ocean as therapy, it became apparent to her that saltwater could be an alternative to medication as a form of pain relief and restoring the human spirit.

Brett Hoffman is the founder and owner of Nautilus Studios. He has over eight years of professional experience working on various production projects and wearing many hats. He has directed and edited many short films and produced a season of a television show available on YouTube. Hoffman takes his diverse skill set to a new level with “SALTWATERx,” dedicating years of his life as an underwater cinematographer.

View a trailer for the film at Saltwaterx Official Trailer.mp4.