Surf movies are mostly about showing muscle. It's about recording achievements, raising admiration. In short, being a romanticised man-dream of heroism. Lots of those films are completely interchangeable, images are from wherever. It's pretty boring.
An exception is the documentary about the Bra Boys, which I'm not sure counts as a surf movie because it's way more of a social portrait than some visual to accompany the sunday evening bbq. It was intrigueing, the tribe-ist behaviours of this group of hooligan surfers in Australia. But it only made sense when someone marked: "Of course, there is something immanently territorial about surfing."
That got me thinking, it's exactly this. It's about individuals occupying space, always. Whether it's you and fifty others, or just you and no one else. In case of the Bra Boys, it's not just taking that spot in the water, it's also a spot in society, which resonates in the way they surf. The story is quite painful, the boys are constantly getting rejected and prejudiced by all sides of society. After the trial that finally releases the two brothers of very serious accusations, they surf the most dangerous wave in Australia, Cyclops.
From the Woodshed Films stable comes a different type of surffilm. After the Bra Boys I'd say, it's on the exact other side of the spectrum, it's outspokenly hippie. Very romanticised (some films were shot entirely on 16mm film) reminiscent of early surf movies like Endless Summer, touches much more on the individual experience that is surfing. Needless to say that all their films are aesthetically beautiful and worth watching.
Woodshed films always make a portrait of an environment, a place on earth, and what it means on your human body to be there. Their films are somewhat educative. Every place they film I immediately want to visit and experience, and surf. Like Patagonia in Chile.
Woodshed goes around the globe. To Indonesia, but also Chile, Jamaica, Senegal and their latest on surfing explores the waves of Canada (Groundswell). The surfing is never done to get the biggest barrel, or do the nicest trick, it only serves the purpose of showing how enjoyable it is to ride waves on that particular beautiful spot on the earth. Exploration is by all means a way to occupy space. One that's driven by curiosity rather than the necessity to survive, though.
Surfing is a sport, which has not a singular character. It can be done in so many different ways, it can exactly express where you're coming from. Film is an excellent medium to give form to such messages. Hopefully more outspoken surffilms like these will be made, but rather unlike these, to contribute to the culture and show how surfing is meaningful in different ways.
An exception is the documentary about the Bra Boys, which I'm not sure counts as a surf movie because it's way more of a social portrait than some visual to accompany the sunday evening bbq. It was intrigueing, the tribe-ist behaviours of this group of hooligan surfers in Australia. But it only made sense when someone marked: "Of course, there is something immanently territorial about surfing."
That got me thinking, it's exactly this. It's about individuals occupying space, always. Whether it's you and fifty others, or just you and no one else. In case of the Bra Boys, it's not just taking that spot in the water, it's also a spot in society, which resonates in the way they surf. The story is quite painful, the boys are constantly getting rejected and prejudiced by all sides of society. After the trial that finally releases the two brothers of very serious accusations, they surf the most dangerous wave in Australia, Cyclops.
From the Woodshed Films stable comes a different type of surffilm. After the Bra Boys I'd say, it's on the exact other side of the spectrum, it's outspokenly hippie. Very romanticised (some films were shot entirely on 16mm film) reminiscent of early surf movies like Endless Summer, touches much more on the individual experience that is surfing. Needless to say that all their films are aesthetically beautiful and worth watching.
Woodshed films always make a portrait of an environment, a place on earth, and what it means on your human body to be there. Their films are somewhat educative. Every place they film I immediately want to visit and experience, and surf. Like Patagonia in Chile.
Woodshed goes around the globe. To Indonesia, but also Chile, Jamaica, Senegal and their latest on surfing explores the waves of Canada (Groundswell). The surfing is never done to get the biggest barrel, or do the nicest trick, it only serves the purpose of showing how enjoyable it is to ride waves on that particular beautiful spot on the earth. Exploration is by all means a way to occupy space. One that's driven by curiosity rather than the necessity to survive, though.
Surfing is a sport, which has not a singular character. It can be done in so many different ways, it can exactly express where you're coming from. Film is an excellent medium to give form to such messages. Hopefully more outspoken surffilms like these will be made, but rather unlike these, to contribute to the culture and show how surfing is meaningful in different ways.
