A Scene at the Sea (1991) on Netflix

Plot summary

A young deaf man named Shigeru works a garbage route in a Japanese coastal town. One day he spots a broken surfboard in the trash and takes it home. He has no experience with the sport and no one to teach him, so he patches the board himself and starts paddling out. His girlfriend Takako, also deaf, goes with him to the beach each day and sits on the sand while he practices. The two communicate mostly through gestures and expressions. The local surfers treat him as an outsider and a novice. He keeps at it, buys a proper board, and improves enough to enter a local competition.