archive

Tahiti, Greenland, England, 2009, Video, 79 minDirector: Ross CairnsCast: Tom Lowe, Fergal Smith, Mickey Smith, Xavier De Le Rue, The Gallows No Under 16 Award-winning doccie about a freakish French snowboarder, big-balled Irish surfers and an angry British punk band seeking the summit of their skill. From wide-eyed rides in giant Chopes, terrifying slides down virgin chutes in Greenland or tattooed head-banging mayhem, they share the desire to find the salt-encrusted, powder-snowed, guitar-ghettoed grail of their inner artist. Not for the squeamish. No Under 16. 18h15 Thursday 16 December, Labia Cinema

Hawaii, 2010, HD Video, Stills, 48 minDirector: Derek Hoffmann, Craig HoffmannCast: Mark Healey, Ian Walsh, Dave Nelson, Ted Grambeau and many others The inside story of surf photography. As pro surfer Mark Healey says, “Next time somebody asks me what I do for a living I'll just have them watch this movie.” True to the sharp lens and camera technology of the digital age, this vivid doccie transports you through the eyes of the world’s best surf photographers, including our Pierre Tostee, to focus on the North Shore. Five awards this year and counting. Inspiring, sumptious, and insanely rich in visuals. 21h00 Sunday 12 December, Brass Bell (with Modern Collective)21h00 Wednesday 15 December, Brass Bell (with Scratching the Surface)18h15 Saturday 18 December, Labia Cinema (with Idiosyncrasies)

USA, Hawaii Tahiti, Mexico, 2010, HD Video, 57 minDirector: Brian ConleyCast: Brian Conley, pro and amateur tube riders Not since the crystalline visions of George Greenough has any single filmmaker so elegantly notched up such tube riding footage. We almost kapped this film from the programme because we thought it would be a similar mind-numbing excursion into duplication and repetition to the point of catatonia. Well, you will ride plenty of sick, standup, wide open slabby barrels with Conley. You will be force-fed the sweet candy of his tubular addiction, but you will you suck it down like the elixir of life in a windswept summer drought. You’ll also enjoy some brilliant editing, insane music and plenty of epic outside-the-barrel shots. You’ll enjoy the angle from the outside of the guy with the camera getting barrelled before zooming into the tube for the alternate view of what you just saw. There are moments when you yell to the rafters with the stoke Conley must have felt getting so stupidly shacked off his shaggy blond pip. Includes the shot when he casually jumps off the jetski and virtually directly into the tube. A definite step along the evolutionary curve of surfing cinematography. 21h00 Tuesday 14 December, Brass Bell (with Melali: The Drifter Sessions) 20h30 Sunday 19 December, Labia Cinema (with Scratching the Surface)

Australia, Indonesia, 2010, Video, 88 minDirector: Michael OblowitzCast: Mike Boyum, Martin Daly, Peter McCabe, and Jeff Chitty No Under 16 Drug peddling, addiction, and ruination seep through the grainy 16mm archives as you dig deep into the early stirrings of the surf travel dream. You’ll jolt awake in a cold sweat as the two kilos of condomised China White squirm in your belly. At times macabre, this historically fascinating doccie follows Indies Trader owner Martin Daly and others as they bankroll the early exploration of Indo as drug smugglers. Some died. Others survived. The footage of two ous on one Uluwatu wave trading barrels is hoot-worthy. Show time: 20h30 Friday 17 December, Labia Cinema

Wednesday 10 November 2010 The Western Province PeeWee Champs went down at Witsands this past weekend. Its contests like these that offer the world of compeditive surfing an insight into what tomorrow holds. Talent is identified and future champions are born. Every division was tights. Click through the slideshow to find out who won. All photography bu Simone Robb.

Wednesday 10 November 2010 In today’s disposable world we give little consideration to the impact we have on our planet with our constant need for the latest Blackberry or Ipod. It’s cheaper to buy a new one than get the old one repaired and in the end, one way or another all your gadgets land up in the trash, about every 18 months. We will need a serious shift in our thought patterns if we are to save this planet and not just the dolphins.

Indonesia, 2010, HD Video, 34 minDirector: Rob MachadoCast: Rob Machado, Dane Reynolds, Kelly Slater, Mike Lossness, Shane Dorian, and more A backlit green screen. Sparkling, sun washed barrels glide before your rheumy wind-flushed eyes. Pigdog silouettes tease the edges of your consciousness while your mind wonders in rhythm to the original music score by Rob Machado and his muso mates. When he was in Indo shooting the Drifter, which imposed a script and a story upon the audience, they shot gigabytes of pure, distilled surfing in Indo’s metonymically perfect peelers. Their subjects? The most innovative tube riders the world has seen set to the kiff music of a multi-talented bunch of people. They took3 the best of the rest, and produced a tightly edited film. Care for more black fruit pastilles? Want more? Check the film.

USA, Hawaii Tahiti, Mexico, 2010, HD Video, 57 minDirector: Brian ConleyCast: Brian Conley, pro and amateur tube riders Not since the crystalline visions of George Greenough has any single filmmaker so elegantly notched up such tube riding footage. We almost kapped this film from the programme because we thought it would be a similar mind-numbing excursion into duplication and repetition to the point of catatonia. Well, you will ride plenty of sick, standup, wide open slabby barrels with Conley. You will be force-fed the sweet candy of his tubular addiction, but you will you suck it down like the elixir of life in a windswept summer drought. You’ll also enjoy some brilliant editing, insane music and plenty of epic outside-the-barrel shots. You’ll enjoy the angle from the outside of the guy with the camera getting barrelled before zooming into the tube for the alternate view of what you just saw. There are moments when you yell to the rafters with the stoke Conley must have felt getting so stupidly shacked off his shaggy blond pip. Includes the shot when he casually jumps off the jetski and virtually directly into the tube. A definite step along the evolutionary curve of surfing cinematography.