Ministry of Surf: The Story of One Perfect Day

The International Award-Winning Documentary Premiers on Kindred in Honor of National Autism Month

About Ministry of Surf: The Story of One Perfect Day

Kindred is honored to host the world premier of the award-winning, short documentary, Ministry of Surf, in recognition of National Autism Month. Ministry of Surf shares the “story of one perfect day” when families impacted by autism gather with world champion surfers and ocean waves to “bring the stoke” to their children. The short film illustrates the healing power of nature connection, which is one of our main topics of exploration at Kindred. You can also listen to the founders of Surfers Healing, Izzy and Danielle Paskowitz, share their family’s journey through autism in the podcast below. 

Ministry of Surf made the rounds at international film festivals in 2023 and 2024, where it won eight best documentary awards including the Best Humanitarian Short Film at this year’s CANNES World Film Festival. The film was produced by Reagan Studios, with Kindred’s editor, Lisa Reagan, serving as the film’s story editor. You can learn more about the film at www.MinistryofSurfFilm.com.

Below you can watch the full short film, released for the first time, and listen to Kindred’s interview with Surfers Healing founders, Izzy and Danielle Paskowitz. 

Watch Ministry of Surf


About the Interview

Scratching the Horizon is the story of Izzy Paskowitz’s life as a member of one of America’s most famous surfing families (capture in the documentary Surfwise). Izzy shares the story of creating Surfers Healing after his son’s autism diagnosis, with his wife, Danielle. Buy this book and support independent book sellers and our nonprofit work!

In the interview with Danielle and Izzy, you will learn how Surfers Healing was inspired by their son’s regression into autism and their discovery of the calming impact of the ocean, a phenomenon recognized as Blue Mind Theory. Izzy and Danielle share their journey, from their light-hearted dating drama to their struggles as a young family searching for answers for their son, Isaiah, while following Izzy’s world champion surfing career around the globe. As Izzy shares in the interview, once the connection was made between the healing power of the ocean on Isaiah’s increasingly dysregulated states as a toddler, Izzy began a routine of paddling out into the ocean weeping tears onto his son’s back waiting for the calm to come.

Over time, they tell us in the interview, other families noticed their ocean calming routine with Isaiah and asked for help. “We didn’t realize we had discovered something,” say Izzy and Danielle. The seed for creating Surfers Healing was planted and has blossomed today into international surfing camps where world champion surfers, called healers, reach thousands of families a year.

In the short documentary about Surfer Healing’s day-long surfing camps, the Ministry of Surf captures Danielle and Izzy’s vision for families impacted by autism to have “one perfect day” after many imperfect days of dealing with autism’s traumatizing impact on children, their families, and communities.“As their tagline says, it was one perfect day. It was such a safe space for us early in Harry’s diagnosis, when we were getting used to being a family in the autistic community. We came out here and for once, our kids were the star of the show,” says Rob Mills, father of an autistic child, in Ministry of Surf. Rob is pictured with his son, Harry, in the cover photo for this feature.

Visit Surfers Healing for more information about their 25 years and thousands of families served by their nonprofit work: www.SurfersHealing.org

Visit www.KindredMagazine.org (this site) to learn more about Nature Connection and its restorative power through our evolutionary pathway to wellbeing, our Evolved Nest.

Kindred World has been a vision-holder for a Wisdom-based, Wellness-informed Society since 1996. Support our nonprofit work here and subscribe to our monthly issues here.


Listen to the Interview with Surfers Healing Founders

Listen to this interview on YouTube or Apple Podcasts.


Behind the Scenes of Ministry of Surf

 

RESOURCES

Kindred Autism Resources

Nature Connection Articles 

Surfers Healing Website

Ministry of Surf Website

 

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