Monday 8 December 2008
More than 3,000 people gathered at a balmy Clifton Fourth Beach for the first film of the Wavescapes Surf Film Festival on Friday. A vicious southeaster blasted the rest of the Cape Peninsula, but there was not a breath of wind on arguably the most beautiful cinema in the world.
Spike had kept an eye on the forecast all week, and there was a slight wobble in confidence as the models steadily upgraded. On Tuesday, peak gusts were 17 kts, but by Wednesday, these had reached 21, and on Thursday, Friday evening was forecast to be in the master-blaster "strong" stakes at 24 kts. As a result, the 'giant screen' that everyone expected was downgraded to a 'biggish screen' as a way to ensure the movie went ahead even if there was wind on the beach.
"There were even plans to bolt the damn thing to the railing," said Spike.
However, a steady swing from SSE to pure SE and a drop in wind velocity brought one of those epic, still summer evenings.
A fish surfboard was raffled, as well as other giveaways, including DVDs and key rings from the Save Our Seas Foundation, a non-profit NGO committed to rectifying misconceptions about sharks. The key rings contained emergency response beach numbers, and were sponsored by the City of Cape Town.
People began trickling on to the beach from 4pm as hundreds of teenagers began lurching home after a day of revelry following the end of exams. As the sun began to set, the crowd was at maybe 400, but by the time darkness fell, numbers had swelled dramatically, with two-thirds of the entire beach packed with people.
The screen, although smaller, was set up for back projection. This meant people could sit right up to the front of the screen. Another glorious Atlantic Ocean sunset set the tone before the film - a mellow travelogue called Beneath the Surface - got underway.
The other films kicked off yesterday, Sunday 7 December, at the Brass Bell in Kalk Bay. More than 200 people pulled in. It was a jovial evening as surfers connected and commiserated about the lack of surf, although the red-hot rides on epic warm-water waves in One Track Mind, and the intense sand-bottomed barrels of Mundaka, was a form of compensation. Movies continue at the Bell until Wednesday 10 December, before moving to the Labia Cinema on Orange Street in Cape Town from Thursday 11 to Sunday 14 December. A total of 18 shows will be shown, comprising the latest and hottest surfing films from South African and around the world.
Wavescapes has an African theme, with documentary Zulu Surf Riders, about the Mqade brothers of Umzumbe in KwaZulu-Natal, showing with Bustin' Down the Door, the Shaun Tomson film, as well as Sliding Liberia, a beautifully made documentary about redemption and healing in war-torn Liberia. A short film called Shark Angels features Save Our Seas researcher Alison Kock and other shark evangelists trying to stop the indiscriminate slaughter of the ocean's most important link in the food chain.
Out of California comes the arty documentary Thread that features the sand art of Jim Denevan, who uses the beach at low tide as a giant canvas for amazing patterns more vast than any crop circle you saw in a cheesy 50s science fiction comic. Sea Fever is a lyrical film about surfing in Ireland, including the giant waves of Aill n Searrach (Aileens). Waterman, hot off the press in the US, is a multi-disciplined exploration of surfing roots and offshoots as the legendary Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama, Gerry Lopez and Rob Machado, with Chris, Keith and Dan Malloy travel into the heart of Indonesia surfing different breaks with different craft.
"We also have Out There, a call to surfers to protect our coastline, and Between the Lines, a hard-hitting documentary about surfing in the Vietnam War. Then there is the simple but wonderfully inspirational footage of 1st and Hope, an urban skater flick that will have the laaities amped for some core street skating," says Steve Pike, festival director.
The first 500 festivalgoers who purchase tickets for the indoor screenings will receive a free surfing movie from surfing brand Hurley.
Special thanks for making it possible to the Save Our Seas Foundation, African Surfrider magazine, Men's Health, Wavescape.co.za, Cape Times and the Clifton Surf Lifesavers
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