Johanna and the Whale

An ancient Biblical story becomes a modern miracle when a young woman is rescued from the sea by whales.
In “Johanna and the Whale”, an ancient legend becomes a modern miracle when a young woman is rescued from the sea by whales. It draws its inspiration from the Biblical story of “Jonah and the Whale” but it features a spicy, headstrong heroine.

Johanna, is a free spirited Cuban/American girl who has always lived on the sea. Her earliest memories are those of sailing to freedom from Cuba with her father on a tiny sailboat. On that life changing voyage she hears music coming from the ocean and sings along. Her father thinks she is singing a song about freedom but she sings a tune far older, the song of the humpback whale. Now grown up, the memory of that song may mean the difference between life and death when her sailboat is hijacked and she is thrown in the shark infested waters of the Gulf Stream with only a baby humpback whale and its mother as her allies.

To stay afloat, she must learn to communicate with these monsters in a language they can understand. Her childhood song becomes the key to that communication. But even with this rudimentary skill, she quickly learns that whales have minds of their own and aren’t obligated to follow her instructions. If she is to survive, she must learn to trust a being far greater than herself and put herself at its mercy and like Jonah of old, this doesn’t come easy. During her three day survival ordeal, Johanna must face her inner demons, her anger towards God over the death of her father and the fear that prevents her from being able to trust. All these things and more she learns from an unlikely tutor, a mother whale.

This film will go beyond anything that has ever been attempted in a fictional feature with real interaction between an actress and a sixty ton humpback whale, in its natural habitat. If people love nature stories and human animal interaction films like “Flipper,” “Free Willy” and “Dolphin Tale” they will love “Johanna and the Whale” all the more. This story of survival based on inter-species understanding, communication and sacrificial love will result in a film of epic grandeur that will thrill audiences young and old and leave them with the thought that even when you are running as fast and as far as you can from God, He can still send a whale to put you back on the right path.

Johanna and the Whale
An ancient legend becomes a modern miracle

In Association with JW Productions, LLC and Sunrise Pictures, LLC