Adventurer, competitor, daughter, friend, pioneer, hero, and badass human are all words used to describe French kayaker, Nouria Newman. In Wild Waters, we follow Nouria as she prepares to become the first female to run a 100-foot (30 m) waterfall; we watch her grow from a young, keen Olympic hopeful to one of the greatest kayakers of all times - male or female. However, running some of the world’s hardest whitewater isn't Nouria's biggest life challenge. Realizing that the expectations placed upon her as both an athlete and as a woman weight heavily on her decisions and ambitions, she pushes back to make her own path. It is this central aspect of her life – this refusal to conform to others’ expectations – where Nouria is able to use kayaking as a way to transform into her truest self, and become a once-in-a-generation kayaker.

This film contains subtitles.

Photo by Carl Zoch