A poetically distilled documentary about great ambition, hidden wounds, and the power of surrender — caught between Olympic winds and inner storms.
How do you win when the thing holding you back… is inside you?
LOGLINEThe wind is not Elena’s greatest opponent—it’s something buried deep within. In the documentary
THE WIND IN HER HANDS,
21-year-old Elena fights to qualify for the Olympic Games in IQ Foil Windsurfing. She must master the wind—but only by surrendering to it can she truly find herself again.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.
- from "Who Has Seen the Wind?” by Christina Rossetti
Is it a windsurfing film?
Not Really.
SYNOPSIS
The wind is both force and resistance. THE WIND IN HER HANDS is the debut feature documentary by Jonas Nellissen about 21-year-old Elena, who is trying to qualify for the Olympic Games in IQ Foil Windsurfing - an almost impossible goal, as she first lifted off the water on a foil just three years ago. As she learns to trust the wind, she must face a far greater challenge, buried deep within.
Her relentless ambition has brought her success before. Control was always her strategy - and her shield. A fine line between discipline and self-sabotage. The eating disorder she recently survived is just one of many waves crashing over her. But there is something else: a moment when self-determination was no longer an option, a trauma submerged in the depths. The wind propels her forward, but it also stirs up what was long forgotten. The body remembers what the mind refuses to. A storm that cannot be halted.
Only when Elena stops fighting the wind can she find her balance—and stand her ground in competition. And suddenly, a new path to Olympic qualification emerges, one never seen before in this discipline.
A powerful coming-of-age story about the razor-thin line between great ambition and Self-denial - and the liberating freedom that comes from letting go of control.
Ah, better give the world surprise
At great achieved from small,
Than start so high that nothing lies
Before you but a—fall!
- Their Chance, Amos R. Wells
Narrative Style
FROM BREEZE TO STORM
While flying over the water, the wind becomes the narrator, returning throughout the film.
THE WIND IN HER HANDS is a cinematic journey into the life of a young woman striving to qualify for the Olympic Games in windsurfing while battling inner demons and traumatic experiences. Shot in an intimate, observational style yet with poetic imagery, the film’s recurring symmetrical and static compositions reflect the harsh conditions she must adapt to and the thoughts she cannot escape. This visual approach is disrupted in moments of crisis, when she faces her conflicts head-on—then, a handheld camera follows her, isolating her. Slowly the film pulls you in emotionally and cultivates a heartwarming melancholy in a story of departure. Additionally, a poetic layer allows the wind to become a narrator, merging with Elena’s experience.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
FORMAT
80 min. || DCI Flat 1,85 || Color
LANGUAGE
German & English with Subtitles (OC or CC)
PRODUCTION OF
Siehste Film, Hamburg, Germany
SHOT IN
Netherlands, Spain, France, Switzerland
And when your fondest hopes are dead
And fate has ceased to smile.
'Tis then it pays to lift your head
And—just—hold on a-while.
- Hold on a while, Amos R. Wells
Jonas Nellissen
Director's Statement
The Wind in Her Hands is more than just a film to me—it’s a reflection of my own journey. Elena’s fight for Olympic qualification mirrors my own struggle to bring this film to life. Just as she faces the impossible, I had to navigate countless obstacles to make this project happen—self-produced, entirely independent, through my own company, SIEHSTE FILM. But beyond the production challenges, this film forced me to confront my past. Though my battles were different from Elena’s, they were just as mentally demanding. And then there’s another layer: I am now a father to two daughters. That reality made Elena’s story even more urgent to tell—her resilience, her reckoning with control, her ability to rewrite her own path. This film is a feminist marker of our time—a story about strength, surrender, and the freedom that comes when we stop fighting against ourselves.
Credits
a SIEHSTE FILM production
Written & Directed by Jonas Nellissen
Music - Felix Beck
Percussions & additional instruments - André Wittmann
Story advisor - Sandra Trostel, Kai Sieverding
Co-Producer - Christina Späth-Nellissen
Additional drone Footage - Henry Bloodworth
Artwork - Timo Zett
Subtitles - Tanne Stephens
