Wednesday 28th October 2020
Filmed over 5 years, Into the Storm [En La Tormenta] follows the unlikely dream of a young indigenous surfer from one of the toughest barrios in Latin America as he struggles to escape the deprivations of his background and become a professional athlete. It's a story of hope and huge personal struggle against seemingly impossible odds - including being shot twice; it's a testament to the transformative difference made by the love of a parent; and ultimately it's the emotional and uplifting triumph of young man who refuses to be defined by the circumstances of his birth. We meet Jhonny Guerrero aged 14, in the drug and gang-plagued barrio of Chorrillos in Lima, Peru. His dad is in prison for armed robbery and his mum is struggling to support Jhonny and his little brother. Surfing in Peru is traditionally a sport for the middle class but Jhonny's neighbourhood backs onto the ocean and it is there that he learned to surf on a broken board and where he now finds peace and tranquility.