Experiencing Interruptions?

Wetsuit

In a desolate parking lot bordering the ocean, three young surfers take off one suit and put on another as they go through the rituals of growing up.

Wetsuit explores the ghosts that haunt the male identity. For these kids, torn between a life on land and a life at sea, they are tormented by what type of man they will be, which suit will they wear? In this no man’s land, we have the ghost of history, of women, of intimacy and the alpha male.

  • João Salgado
    Director
  • Maria Martins
    Producer
  • Mathilde Jouaud
    Producer
  • Pablo Garrido Carreras
    Director of Photography
  • Gabriela Nemesio Nobre
    Production Designer
  • Hannah Owen
    Editor
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Drama, experimental
  • Runtime:
    18 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 7, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Portugal
  • Country of Filming:
    Portugal, United Kingdom
  • Language:
    Portuguese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1:66
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - London Film School
Distribution Information
  • London Film School
    Sales Agent
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - João Salgado

João was born in Lisbon, Portugal but he grew up in Geneva, Switzerland. He has a degree in economics from the London School of Economics and a masters in filmmaking from the London Film School. At the LFS he directed four short films, one of them a documentary. He is attracted to non linear narrative structures and stories that explore themes of home and isolation, the homes we make and the homes we long for. Wetsuit is his graduation film from the London Film School. João currently lives and works in Lisbon where he is developing his next project.

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Director Statement

Wetsuit is a fragmented self-portrait in the sense that our 'self' is made up of various 'selfs' - like a new suit we put on depending on where in life we are, or what people we are with.

At its core, Wetsuit presents three seemingly unrelated stories and characters in order to explore their similarities. It’s as if what happens to one character has happened or will happen to the others. In that knowledge, they share the same questions about the burden of what it might mean to be a man.

Wetsuit explores the ghosts that haunt male identity. Torn between a life on land and a life at sea, these kids are tormented by what type of man they will be - which suit will they wear? In this no-man’s-land, we have the ghosts of history, of women, of intimacy and the alpha male.