Magical Start to Film Festival

Magical Evening on the beach at Clifton. Photo: Cheryl-Samantha Owen, Save Our Seas Foundation

Cape Town was windy tonight with a strong SSE tearing up the deep south, winding around Camps Bay and working up a temper for a gale-force blow on the weekend.

When I got to Clifton 4th beach I was surprised by the total lack of wind, but not the Wavescapes ous. Spike had forecast an epic evening and we were all cautiously optimisitc.

The word was obviously out (Wavescape, Twitter, Facebook, mobile phones, local radio), and people arrived with picnics from around 5pm. By 7pm the beach had filled up and by 8pm finding a parking spot was like trying to find a wave in Cape Town this summer. 

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As the sun dipped behind the boulders, Chris Mason thanked our friends and sponsors and then Sam Owen from the Save Our Seas Foundation gave an impassioned conservation message to an appreciative audience. At 9pm, we started our film, The Present, a classic surf documentary by Thomas Campbell. By now, the beach had swelled to an estimated 4,000 people, maybe more. Virtually the entire beach was packed, making the bigger screen a great option this year.

One of the opening scenes features a barrel ride in Indonesia that is one of the longest rides I have seen. The stoked crowd of thousands hooted and cheered and the surf starved groms started frothing at the mouth in desperation. A hilarious scene in the film called "Express Your Inner Monkey" had a few mullets competing for the craziest skit on a wave and the crowd was rolling around in the sand laughing their heads off.

It was a perfect evening and there was a great, peaceful vibe. It was amazing to see how our common love for surfing and the ocean unites us and it all came together perfectly at the most beautiful cinema in the world. Special thanks to the city of Cape Town, our sponsors Save Our Seas Foundation, Men's Health, Cape Times, Cape Talk, the Langston family, Thomas Campbell and our amazing curator Keiko Beatie!

Dusk slowly descends. Magical Evening. Photo: Cheryl-Samantha Owen, Save Our Seas Foundation

Darkness hints as twilight falls. Photo: Paul van Jaarsveld

Zoomed in. Photo: Paul van Jaarsveld

Fun in the ranks. Photo: Cheryl-Samantha Owen, Save Our Seas Foundation

Whole view. How many? Maybe 2,000 or more? Photo: Paul van Jaarsveld