the happiness of the four Landes videographers rewarded for their documentary on extreme surfers

For the second year in a row, the series “100 Foot Wave” won the Emmy Award for “Outstanding Cinematography for a Non-Fiction Program”. A trophy which salutes the work of Antoine Chicoye, Laurent Pujol, Michael Darrigade and Alexandre Lesbats.

Back from the city of angels, they are still on cloud nine. Antoine Chicoye, Laurent Pujol, Michael Darrigade and Alexandre Lesbats have just returned home, to the Landes, with a hell of a reward in their hands. An Emmy Awards statuette awarded on January 15, 2024 in Los Angeles.

The second part of the documentary series 100 Foot Wave, in which they participated, earned its place on the list in the “Outstanding Cinematography for a Non-Fiction Program” category. “We were moved for a long time, everyone shed a little tear, it’s a trophy that has value for us”rejoices videographer Antoine Chicoye.

They are quite used to strong sensations, but the ones they experienced in Los Angeles still get them high. “It’s a big American show for us coming from the south of France. The moment when they told us that we had won, personally, I have no memory, I know that we take everyone in our arms and we go on stage”, still moved by Alexandre Lesbats. “It’s an accomplishment and it’s very unexpected,” confides documentary filmmaker Michael Darrigade.

Awarded for the second consecutive year at the Emmy Awards, the documentary series, broadcast on HBO, follows the exceptional exploits of extreme surfers in Nazaré, Portugal in the hope of conquering a 30-meter wave.

Toured between 2020 and 2022, the series 100 Foot Wave (The 100 foot wave in French) offers breathtaking images. Antoine Pujol is the first videographer to have followed the surfers of Nazaré from a jet-ski. Last year, he already received an Emmy for the first part of this documentary. “I felt the need to improve the images, it helps to boost the sequel”, he confides.

The series, which traces the surfers’ decade-long odyssey, mixes intimate interviews, true scenes, personal archives, as well as aerial, aquatic and underwater images.

Originally, it was surfer Garrett McNamara, a true legend of the seas, who took him on the American adventure. “He knew I had already shot some footage and he put me on the project with producer Joe Lewis and director Chris Smith.” Executive producer Vincent Kardasik, also from the South-West, also participated in the adventure.

Once the emotion has been digested, passion takes over, some of them have already returned to Nazaré to hunt for the most beautiful images of big waves.