BREAKING WAVES

Synopsis

After a boating accident during film shoots on a sailing vessel in the Caribbean, Katelijne Langezaal is confronted with the shocking diagnosis of spinal cord lesion. The expectation is she will never be able to walk again, so her world falls apart. But then she decides not to resign to a life in a wheelchair. In this equally intimate and personal documentary, she puts out all stops to prove her doctors wrong and take back control of her body and future.

Director Katelijne Langezaal

After obtaining her Master’s degree in Film and Television Studies from the University of Amsterdam in 2000, Katelijne Langezaal has been working in the media industry.

She created numerous non-fiction programs for various national broadcasters both in the Netherlands and abroad. She specialized in human-interest series. In 2011 she developed her first mid-length documentary, ‘Anne Unlimited’, which was broadcasted in the Netherlands and in Belgium.

In addition to directing, Katelijne usually also carries out the research, camerawork, production and sometimes sound and editing for her films. Her strength lies in visualizing real-life stories and providing an honest and intimate insight into the lives of her main characters.

In 2013, Katelijne began a Master's "Directing Documentary" at the renowned National Film and Television School in the United Kingdom to further specialize. Shortly before her graduation in February 2015, tragedy struck. During a work trip on a sailing yacht in the Caribbean Sea, high, steep waves suddenly appeared, and the yacht was headed straight for them. Katelijne sustained a spinal cord injury and has been paralyzed from the waist down since then. The day after the accident, she began filming her own journey, resulting in the documentary "Breaking Waves," which she completed in 2024.