"Flow like water", a film produced by Janina Zeitler´s own Media Production Company, JZ Media Productions, takes you on an incredible journey through Janina Zeitler´s unique and inspiring story, the struggles of committing her life to chase an impossible dream of becoming a professional surfer despite being landlocked her entire life and the brand new path she is currently paving which is completely changing Germany as a surf nation, with Janina being the personification of the development of surfing in the country, opening a new way for others to follow.
After premiering in cinemas accross Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Austria as one of the highlights of the Bayerisches Outdoor Film Festival, as well as having been premiered in Hossegor this past September, during one of the busiest weeks of surfing in France, together with Rip Curl, "Flow like Water" is now online only in Janina Zeitler´s Youtube Channel !
Janina Zeitler is a professional surfer from Germany, considered to be the best Rapid Surfer in the entire world, reigning European & 2x German Champion, and is currently the leading figure of surfing in Germany.
Her story as a professional surfer is completely different than any other you have heard about so far, of someone who was born and raised near the ocean, standing on a surfboard before they could even walk, being given all the opportunities in the world to chase surfing as a career ever since they can remember...
Janina´s upbringing and reality is much different than that and definitely the complete opposite of any of her current competitors.
Born and raised in the beautiful city of Munich, where she has lived her entire life, Janina was always very far away from the ocean, in a country where surfing was never seen as a career worth following or a dream worth dreaming, unless you completely moved out of the country, something that through her incredible story has nowadays deeply changed for the nation and brought hope for many other landlocked surfers to dream about becoming professional surfers one day.
Having only stepped on a surfboard for the very first time when she was 12 years old, an age where her current competitors were already participating in international competitions, Janina started surfing in the cold rivers of Munich.
Her experience was much different to everything she had heard and seen before about surfing, of girls surfing in bikinis in beautiful beaches & tropical destinations, yet here she was, covered in a thick neoprene suit trying to stand on a tiny little wave created by the strength of the rivers in the middle of Germany.
Nevertheless, Janina immediately fell in love with the sport and becoming a professional surfer quickly became her biggest dream.
This dream was however perceived as something impossible as there was no road to follow, not a single guideline, no relatable role models, no-one that was living thousands of kilometres away from the ocean was a real professional surfer...
I lost count of how many times I was told to give up, that this dream of mine was simply crazy, not worth fitting for...
"What do you mean you want to be a professional surfer? You live in Munich, we have no ocean, this sport is not for people like us, leave surfing for those who are at the sea " were things I heard my entire life...
However, deep inside me I always felt like I could flow like water, being frozen in the middle of the mountains, slowly defrosting, running down and creating a river, finally reaching the ocean with all the strength and power in the world...
So, I decided to try to make this feeling become my life story and worked as hard as I could to, against all odds, prove that anyone in Germany, or any other landlocked nation, can dream about becoming a professional surfer and that you are never given a dream without also being given the power to turn it into reality.
Janina Zeitler
Despite of all the obstacles in front of her, the massive distance to the ocean, the lack of support and understanding from the outside, and an extremely busy school schedule, Janina dedicated all her free time to surfing in the rivers of Germany, becoming European Champion and 2x German Champion of the sport, as well as winning pretty much every single competition that exists in the sport.
This unmatched success gave her motivation to pursue her dream, having started to travel to the ocean as much as she could during her school holidays and, once she finished High-School a couple years ago, hitting the road much more often to train and compete in the sea against girls who have been living, surfing and competing there their entire life.
With an unexplainable will to succeed, Janina has since then deeply developed her surfing skills in the ocean, being currently part of the German National team of Surfing, a Rip Curl Team Rider and the living proof that Germany or any other landlocked country can indeed have professional surfers.
This unique and inspiring story is only in the begging, with Janina being currently only 23 years old, yet has turned her into something much greater than just another surfer, being nowadays a role-model for other girls and boys from all over the world, to dream about one day being professional surfers, taking Janina as a relatable example to their realities which gives them hope and strength to follow her footsteps in this exciting brand new path she is paving for the sport of Surfing.
You can take a closer look at Janina´s life like never before through "Flow like Water" and watch this incredible film in Janina Zeitler´s Youtube Channel.
Follow Janina Zeitler´s inspiring journey as a professional surfer through all her social media channels listed down bellow:
Janina Zeitler is interviewed by the Olympiastützpunkt Bayern and featured in the cover of the new monthly report! "Interview Janina Zeitler – vom Münchner Eisbach in die Weltmeere" focuses on Janna's unique story as a professional surfer and in her progression from the river waves of Munich to becoming one of Europe's best surfers.
"Flow like Water" takes you on an incredible journey through Janina Zeitler´s unique and inspiring story, the struggles of committing her life to chase an impossible dream of becoming a professional surfer despite being landlocked her entire life and the brand new path she is currently paving which is completely changing Germany as a surf nation, striving to open the way for others to follow.