Haagua Official Movie poster
Haagua, an Indigenous Surf Film
We are now booking Haagua, an Indigenous Surf Film. For 2026 screenings, Panel Discussions and Presentations, please email us to schedule.
2025-2026 Haagua Film World Tour and Community Impact
Haagua is receiving accolades around the globe with Winner for Best Photography Award at Paris International Film Festival, Indigenous Social, Political, Cultural Impact Award at the Latino and Native American Film Festival. Winner for Best Short Documentary at Carmel International Film Festival and again at the City of Angeles International Film Festival. Award Winner at Turkey’s Indigenous Cultural Film Festival and Montreal International Film Festival. Gaining 1st Place at the Mexico Surf Film Festival and Winner of the Oceanic Global Film Festival, Haagua is currently playing from New Zealand to Greece to the Yukon.
Haagua Official Movie Trailer. An Indigenous Surf Film Produced by Native Like Water, Directed by Octavio Coutiño Aceves and Marc Antony Chavez. A film that celebrates the timeless bond between humanity and the ocean. “Haagua” follows a group of Native American surfers as they revive ancestral traditions, blending cultural resilience with the cultural art of surfing to honor the past and inspire the future. .
Haagua Indigenous Surf Film Story
A first in Native America, the story of Haagua illustrates history and culture widely.
“Haagua” explores the profound bond personified by Great Great Grandmother Ocean played by Jacinda Townsend (Cahuilla) and her unborn son, played by Shuuluk Leo-Retz (Kumeyaay). Through voices from the past and prayers for the future, the film traces the enduring memory of survival that connects generations. Surfing emerges not merely as a sport but as a rediscovery of cultural practices and a revival of an original way of life. This cultural regeneration comes to life through the journeys of featured Indigenous surfers, including Andy Nieblas (Acjachemen), David Flores Ramos (Coastal Sierra Nahua), Kaliko Kahoonei (Hawaiian), Shuuluk Leo-Retz (Kumeyaay), Amon B. Chavez (Nahua-Carib), Reg Macarro (Payomkawichum-Ojibwe), Liam Walsh (Payomkawichum) and Marc Chavez (Nahua-Xicano). Together, they embody a modern resurgence of ancestral wisdom, blending tradition with the rhythm of the waves in a story of resilience, identity, and connection.
Please contact us for private screening in your community as Haagua begins its community impact tour.
