Tom Lowe would be dead if not for the help of his rescuers. Likely twice over. Photos: YouTube//Screenshot
Tom Lowe has been through the wringer. The Cornish big wave surfer has nearly died more than once chasing his passion, but he continues chasing, consequences be damned. In A Thousand Lives, a new film made by Kanndir, an award-winning collective of creators specializing in audio, visual, and storytelling, Lowe’s tale is told through voice notes.
“A Thousand Lives is an intimate, experimental portrait of Cornish big wave surfer Tom Lowe following multiple near fatal accidents in Tahiti at the worlds most dangerous wave, Teahupo’o,” the film’s description reads.
In it, he reflects on not just the physical implications of going through wipeouts that almost killed him. He talks in depth about the profound psychological challenges one faces in the wake, as well. Big wave surfing is not an easy career path to choose, but for people like Lowe, it’s more of a calling than anything else. But he can’t stop. Or won’t. I imagine that for Lowe, “can’t” and “won’t” in this context feel similar to each other.
“It’s been the most powerful thing in my life, without a shadow of a doubt,” he says at the beginning of A Thousand Lives. “It’s like the birth of a kid kind of vibe. It’s a proper out-of-body experience. That’s how it feels. Which is how it’s meant to be, I guess. In a big picture sense, when I look back at it all and where I’m at now, it’s just a hell of a lot, isn’t it? It feels like I’ve lived a thousand lives in a few years.”
The film isn’t just about surfing. An it’s not a film that will make you want to go out and surf. It is, however, a film that will make you want to succeed at whatever it is you’re wanting to succeed at, no matter what obstacles are in your way.
“Raw, vulnerable and deeply human,” Kanndir writes, “the film traces Tom’s journey through trauma, to redemption as he confronts mortality, rebuilds his spirit, and returns to Mullaghmore in Ireland, the mystical wave location that defined his career and becomes the setting for an extraordinary act of renewal.”
