Until recent years, the beaches of Ghana were deemed unsafe for women. Powered by fierce rip currents, the waters of the Gulf of Guinea perpetuated a culturally ingrained fear of drowning, with women restricted from venturing into the ocean – the coastline considered the sole preserve of working men and the fishing community.

Challenging gender-based inequality and the widespread fear of drowning, Justice Kwofie and his six brothers founded the Obibini Surf Club in 2017. Directed by French-Canadian filmmaker Benoit Lalande with Executive Producer Sarah Hughen, the surfing community they built becomes the subject of short film Obibini, engaging with the young female surfers empowered through the initiative. Now with more than 10 female members, the film explores the Obibini Surf Club’s role in deconstructing societal norms, establishing a path for Ghanaian women away from the domestic responsibilities to which they found themselves tied.

Bringing with it a wave of change in an ever-evolving society, the Obibini Surf Club initiated the embrace of an inclusive pursuit from which women are no longer excluded. Centering the collective as a small shift against historical limitations placed on women, Lalande captures the breathtaking ocean environment and the inner power located through learning to ride its currents, communicating the stories of those surfing Ghana’s coastline to accelerate the emergence of new norms.