THE WIND IN HER HANDS

21-year-old Elena throws herself into the Olympic dream of IQ Foil Windsurfing-despite first stepping onto the board only three years ago. What seems impossible is driven by relentless ambition, a force that has carried her to success before but has also pushed her into dangerous territory. Discipline has always been both her strategy and her shield, a fine line between strength and self-destruction. Surviving an eating disorder was only one wave; now, as she pushes toward qualification, the buried trauma of sexual abuse resurfaces. For the first time, Elena begins to speak openly about the rape she endured as a teenager.

Set against the vast beauty and indifference of the sea, this feminist and poetic coming-of-age documentary explores how ambition, trauma, and resilience collide, tracing Elena‘s fragile path between self-erasure and self-discovery-and the unexpected new route to Olympic qualification that opens before her.

Jonas Nellissen © Franziska Evers photos © Jonas Nellissen