NASIMA is a feature documentary and is the story of Nasima Akter, the first female Bengali Surfer. Selling trinkets on the beach, 7-year-old Nasima’s attention is caught by something out on the water, and immediately she is transfixed: surfing has come to Bangladesh. She will become the first female surfer in Bangladesh, a place where women don’t even swim in public, let alone ride waves. A little girl’s dream of riding the waves threatens to change the course of history for an entire nation. The film illustrates how struggles against cultural, economic, and systemic barriers can transcend borders, revealing shared resilience and the universal fight for dignity, visibility, and opportunity.
Heather's latest project is the feature documentary NASIMA. Post production was completed during the covid lockdown and the film had it’s world premiere in September 2021 at the Prague International Film Festival/Febiofest.
Prior her first documentary 'In the Shadow of Buddha' takes us beyond the idealized world of Tibetan Buddhism and into the unexpectedly controversial lives of Tibetan nuns. In the Shadow of Buddha won numerous film festival awards, including a 2011 Golden Palm Award for Documentary Film and the 2011 International Religion Today “Best Documentary” and “Women’s Issues” awards. Before “Shadow,” Kessinger’s first short documentary, Spoken, was awarded Best Short Student Documentary at the San Jose Film Festival and is frequently screened by the San Francisco Art Institute and the Bay Area Video Coalition.
Prague International Film Festival 2022
Santa Barbara International 2023
Smith Rafael Theater, August 2025
Director: Heather Kessinger
Producer: Chevy Chen
Producer: Christine Guenther
Writer: Jaimal Yogis and Kevin Klauber
Editor: Kristina Motwani
