Lucy was thrust into the spotlight and became a gender equality advocate after a video of her pointing out unequal prize-money during a surfing competition went viral. She later went on to launch her groundbreaking Equal Pay for Equal Play campaign in Australia – a campaign calling for gender equality in sport.
Over the last couple of years, Lucy has added another string to her bow – storytelling and film-making. Her documentary Yama, made in partnership with filmmaker Maddie Meddings, was released in 2023 – and her new film Ceibo (featuring Pacha Light) will be released next week at a global premiere in Sydney. We caught up with Lucy and here’s what she had to say.
Looking back on your journey to surf and film, how do you think your upbringing shaped the woman and activist you are today?
I grew up on the remote Western Australian coastline with not a lot of female surfing role models and not much idea of what was possible out in the world. My parents had both travelled a lot when they were younger, so as soon as I finished school, they both encouraged me to leave home and go out and see the world, which I did!
Growing up in that area in the deep south of WA, I didn’t have a lot of female surfer role models — none, actually — so I was very dependent on surf magazines and films to see professional women surfers. Unfortunately, there weren’t many depictions of female surfers in surf media at the time, which made me start to realise that the world of surfing wasn’t necessarily a perfect place for women. I couldn’t see myself anywhere, so I had no idea that I could actually follow a surfing pathway.
So much of that is what has made me want to push for progress in surfing and other sports more generally, including doing the type of storytelling I wish I had when I was a teenager.
How did Ceibo come about, and what led you to choose this subject and theme? How did you meet Pacha? Can you share a bit about your friendship?
After making my first film Yama with Maddie Meddings, we both loved the process so much that we really wanted to start working on another project. I had seen some of Pacha’s story online and thought she sounded pretty interesting. We then met in real life at a Yama screening, and I put the idea of making a film together to her. Not long after that, there was a surf contest on the Gold Coast that tried to run only one division with prize money, so I organised for a group of female surfers to fill up the entire division so it would be a women’s division. When I did a call-out for people to join, Pacha was the first one to put her hand up. This was when we really became friends.
Pacha has such a unique life story. She was born off-grid in the Ecuadorian Andes, her mother is a long-time environmentalist, and her father is Ecuadorian. When she was three or four, Pacha, her mum, and brother moved back to Australia, and Pacha grew up to become a professional surfer. In 2021, her father passed away, which prompted Pacha to travel back to Ecuador to learn about her heritage.
I thought her story would make a beautiful film, but we also wanted to explore Ecuador itself, which has such a beautiful culture of conservation and women’s leadership. So, the film also became an exploration of activism, too, which Pacha and I both have in common, sharing stories of women who have been part of movements for change.
Can you share a particular moment or person during your trip to Ecuador that truly impacted you?
Wow, yeah, I can genuinely say the entire trip was life-changing, and every person we met had such a big impact on all of us. The Galápagos Islands were unlike anywhere else I have ever been, and Carolina Pesantez, who is a surfer and national park guide, who we filmed with there, shared such a tangible joy with nature, which inspired me so much to see the beauty in your surroundings. In the Amazon Rainforest, seeing the way indigenous Kichwa women are such a force to be reckoned with made me feel unstoppable.
Also, the way of life that is about maintaining your relationship with nature and the forest showed me that a really good way to challenge the global system of capitalism that is destroying our planet is to actually live a bit slower and take the time to just be. That is something I really needed to learn. I could go on and on because it was all so incredible, but those are some standouts.
How do you think storytelling and documentary formats can be vehicles for driving gender equality?
I really believe that connecting with stories, with individual people and their narratives on screen, allows audiences to be inspired to take action. I think it’s such a strong way to bring to life the more general reporting in the news that doesn’t always have a human face and develop empathy in people.
Women-led storytelling can challenge dominant narratives that are so often created by men and shed light on the less visible but very important people and communities globally. Especially in surf films, which is a genre historically dominated by men, it’s an important way to contribute to our global surfing narrative while ensuring the stories of women are shared and listened to.
What is the message you want viewers to take away from Ceibo?
I hope Ceibo inspires people to act. It shares that activism can take many different forms, and it is up to us to figure out where our power lies and use it. Big change is going to take all of us, so I hope Ceibo shows people that we can all contribute in our own way. It is also about sharing the beauty of Ecuador and female friendships, encouraging you to get out there and have fun in nature.
In your film Ceibo, you explore the role of women in leadership and environmental protection in Ecuador. How do you think women can play a more prominent role in environmental and community activism globally?
I had read about how women have an important role in the conservation movement and how women are disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis, but in Ecuador, I actually saw what this means.
A really good example was given to us by Kichwa Gen Z activist Muyu Flores in the Andes, who shared about a women’s association that makes and sells bags and other wares made from a plant called Cabuya. The association was created to generate alternative incomes to mining so people were not forced to work in the mines, but it also had the impact of giving women their own incomes and financial independence. This showed so clearly the link between environmental conservation and women’s liberation, and how the two are interconnected in this context.
In the Amazon, this was clear too. The traditional gardens where communities grow food alongside rivers are women’s spaces, where knowledge is shared, and where women’s cultural practices are passed through generations. Upstream gold mining and oil fields are poisoning the rivers and threatening these women’s spaces. So, women play a pivotal role in pushing these companies out.
