California State University, Dominguez Hills is celebrating the success of digital media graduate Johnny Gonzales whose 2016 student film has become an award-winning documentary. In the Water; Behind the Lens aired on PBS stations throughout July 2022.
According to CSUDH News, the 9-minute student film, “Surf Photography: The Watermen,” produced with fellow students Jon Domingo and Cynthia Gutierrez, was awarded the top award in the “college student” category at the 2017 Worldfest Houston International Independent Film Festival, the world’s largest festival of its kind.
The film also took home the Best Student Documentary prize at the Student World Awards and first place in the “Creative” category at CSUDH’s Student Research Day.
After graduating in 2017 with a BA in Digital Media Arts: Television Arts, Gonzales spent the next four years working on the project, taking time off between photography gigs to travel to well-known surfing hotspots.
The resulting documentary feature, In the Water; Behind the Lens, is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at what goes into capturing world-class photos of top surfers and bodyboarders.
Gonzales’ documentary was accepted to several film festivals in 2021, winning the Best Feature Documentary Award at the San Francisco Frozen Film Festival and the Audience Award for Best Action Sports Film at the Newport Beach Film Festival.
It was also an official selection at the Paris Independent Film Festival, New York Lift-Off Film Festival, Sarasota Film Festival, and Catalina Film Festival.
The film was largely a labor of love for Gonzales, who grew up in Los Alamitos, Calif., and spent his days bodyboarding at Seal Beach and Huntington Beach. He funded the project himself, and also served as director, camera operator, and editor.
Gonzales’ film also includes many of the most iconic surfing images ever captured—many of the photographers he interviewed allowed him to comb their vast archives.
After the success of In the Water; Behind the Lens, Gonzales is currently deciding what his next film project will be. For now, though, he’s enjoying the exposure that his one-time student project has gotten.
“It’s a tough game out there,” says Gonzales. “But I’m really proud of my film and am excited that people are watching it and responding so positively. It’s been a really cool experience.” Click here to read more.
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