Surfers Fight Global Warming

Tuesday 21 December 2009

Cape Town: Thousands attending a surf film festival have added their voice to growing demands to save the world's oceans and slow down global warming.

Put together by Save Our Seas Foundation and a bumper edition of the Wavescapes Surf Film Festival, the event included an ice surfboard that helped raise R170,000 for ocean charity, while more than 5,000 vocal surfers attended a conservation rallying call during a film screening at Clifton Fourth Beach.

Big wave surfer Conn Bertish shaped the board out of solid ice as a “simple metaphor for global warming”, fresh after the climate change summit in Copenhagen.

The ice board, which would be a worthless puddle of water within 12 hours, was auctioned by comedian Mark Sampson for R20,500 at Depasco Café. Two of the 11 boards at the auction, one by Bitter Comix legend Konradski and one by dark prince of pop (art) Brett Murray, went for a record R24,000 each, possibly the most spent on a surfboard in South Africa. Patrons, luminaries, artists and surfers dug deep for the charity event, proceeds of which go the NSRI, Shark Spotters and Save Our Seas Foundation.

Wavescapes co-director Chris Mason said, “It's gratifying to realise how seriously surfers take their role of being on the front line of ocean conservation, and ready to put their money where their mouths are”.

Two days later, Sam Owen from the Save Our Seas Foundation gave an impassioned plea to an appreciative audience of 5,000 attending a giant screening of the surf film The Present. Clifton Fourth Beach, what organisers call "the most beautiful cinema in the world", enjoyed warm, calm weather, despite a summer southeaster that bloomed into a gale-force blow later that weekend.

From poetic eulogies about waves and heroes of surfing sub-culture to the darker side of surfing, the festival featured a broad mix of films with 16 screened at three locations, with the focus on climate change, and the critical need to save our oceans from the effects of global warming.

An estimated 10,000 people attended this year, breaking all previous records.

In the words of co-director Chris Mason:

This year was the best yet for the 6th Wavescapes Surf Film Festival after five cumulative years of making it a landmark on Cape Town and surfing's cultural map. It feels as though a loyal and enthusiastic group of Wavescapers has developed that consciously supports the festival and its underlying imperatives of environmental awareness and activism.

The festival started in early December with a surf art exhibition and auction, held at Depasco café in the centre of Cape Town. Thirteen artists from around the country were involved. They delivered the goods by producing 10 surfboard art pieces of exceptional quality. After a week of exhibiting, the boards were auctioned at a funky art auction event, along with a beautiful and globally poignant “Ice Surfboard” created by Conn Bertish - with SOSF and Wavescape - as a simple metaphor for global warming.

The beauty of the translucent ice board was captivating, but so were the amazing artworks of the exhibition. The entire collection was very deftly sold my Mark Sampson for a whopping R170,000, all of which goes to charities like SOSF, the Sharkspotters and NSRI.

From there the festival moved to a sublime Clifton 4th beach, where a massive crowd of 4,000+ people enjoyed a magical night at the world’s most beautiful cinema. Without a breath of wind, the giant screen on which The Present was shown hardly wavered, and to everyone's delight, huge barrels and soulful arcs lit up the screen.

The Brass Bell came next, proving once again to be a fantastic venue, with festival goers enjoying pizzas and a few cold ones while they watched the films in the bikini bar. The standout night was of course the first screening of The Drifter, when a record 280 people squeezed in to a venue that only holds 200. Unfortunately many were turned away at the door for fear the place would sink irretrievably into the ocean.

Finally, and with a style of its own, the Labia hosted the last few days of the festival. Movie goers were able to fully appreciate the films in their cinematic entirety at the Labia, which is a place with such a unique and funky personality, one can’t help but come away smiling.

So to all those of you who enjoyed part or all of the festival, THANK YOU! Wavescape puts on the festival for all of you.

Also, the festival would not be possible with out our sponsors, partners and friends, including Save our Seas foundation, Men’s Health, Cape Times, Cape Talk Radio, city of Cape Town, Langston family, US curator Keiko Beatie, Mahala, Uncover the Cape, Depasco Café, Billabong, Quiksilver, Nixon, Hurley, Lizzard, Roxy, Ocean Minded and Insight.

Finally a big thank you to all the artists involved, Tanya, Conn and all those behind the scene.