Breaking Waves - The Story of an NFTS Graduates Fight to Walk Again After Life-Changing Accident
Ten days before graduating from the Directing Documentary course at the National Film and Television School in 2015, Katelijne Langezaal sustained a life-changing spinal cord injury in a sailing accident during a shoot in the Caribbean.
After arriving at hospital, Katelijne was told she would never walk again. The day after her accident, she started filming her journey.
With the help of fellow course mates Anna Snowball, Grace Brighouse and Eleanor Mortimer and cameras and kit provided by the NFTS, Katelijne documented the next few years of rehabilitation.
The result is Breaking Waves, an emotional and intimate film about grieving a former life and the enduring determination to relearn how to walk and return to some level of independence.
Throughout her rehabilitation journey, Katelijne discovered Activity-Based Therapy in the USA: an innovative approach focused on regaining movement that was not available in the Netherlands, where treatment followed a more conventional model. Alongside her neurotherapy, Katelijne consulted with professionals from existing ABT centres and, in 2022, she established the Netherlands’ first ABT centre in Amsterdam, Neuromove, so others living with spinal cord injuries and neurological conditions could access this specialist rehabilitation too.
Thanks to Directing Documentary Course Coordinator Sandra Eggleston, on 16 September the National Film and Television School was excited to welcome Katelijne back to the School for a special screening of Breaking Waves for current students, staff and friends from Katelijne’s own cohort.
Katelijne said “Coming back to NFTS after eleven years feels quite emotional. I spent two incredibly intense years here. So much happened in those two years, and I met people who became really important to me. But I didn’t really leave NFTS in the normal sense. I was suddenly ripped out of that life, just days before graduating, and thrown into a completely different one. A life I didn’t choose.
Back then, I pictured myself travelling the world making documentaries. Things turned out very differently, so returning for the first time with such a personal film about the accident and everything that happened afterwards feels like much more than just a screening. There’s something very special, but also confronting, about coming back to the place where I thought one life was about to begin, with a film about the life that took its place.”
Katelijne Langezaal and Eleanor Mortimer
The reality of returning to the NFTS for the screening is easier said than done. Travel for Katelijne means travelling with two wheelchairs, her assistance dog Louie and luggage, and accessible travel and accommodation are especially expensive.
Sandra set up a GoFundMe to support her with these considerable costs and NFTS staff, students and friends have helped raise over half of the funds. If you’d like to show your support you can donate via the link below, with anything raised beyond the travel and accommodation costs going to Neurokinex, who provide specialist rehabilitation and exercise programmes for people living with paralysis.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/katelijne-langezaal-breaking-waves-zubtg
Full list of NFTS crew for Breaking Waves
Director/Camera Katelijne Langezaal
Camera Anna Snowball, Grace Brighouse and Eleanor Mortimer
Composer Terence Dunn