It was only a matter of time before someone made a biopic about Italo Ferreira — the cooler-lid-surfing kid who came to be king.

Based in Baia Formosa, Brazil, The Curious Tales of Italo Ferreira follows the 27-year-old current WSL World Champ and Olympic gold medalist through his journey of becoming a surfing superstar. Featuring Italo’s early travails and triumphs, including stories of sleeping in board bags and getting slapped with a sandal, the film captures all the things that make Italo who he is today — most notably, his family and close friends.

According to the film’s director Luiza de Moraes, Italo hates talking about himself, so the story is primarily told by the people closest to Italo. Buxexa, for example, who is Italo’s childhood friend and current surf filmer, ends up narrating the entire story, adding intimate details about Italo’s life and upbringing.

Here’s what the director mostly took away from working with the champ:

You see people on camera, and you see their social media, and it’s like a certain image. And I do think Italo is that person that everybody sees, which is a really positive, high-energy person. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, and below the water, it’s layers and layers and layers of things. But he doesn’t show those layers to everybody. He’s very guarded. And that’s why I think this film came out the way it did — because the only people he lets in are his closest friends and family, and they’re the ones that really drive this story. So it’s just like, you see him, he’s really extroverted, but he’s also really introverted, which I think is super interesting. 

Watch the film here.