"People went mysteriously missing and some died suddenly abroad..."
Nias. The very name conjures wild visions in the head of any surfer who came of age in the before times*. That freightraining right, tall and square, ripping through Lagundri Bay framed by an impossibly verdant backdrop. That very picture of surf perfections. Located in some 12o km from the Indonesian mainland, Nias is a large barrier island once colonized by the Dutch before slipping into historical footnotes after World War II. Australian surfers Kevin Lovett and John Giesel, joined by Peter Troy, stumbled upon the gem in 1975 and herein lies a modern story of greed, power and the all too familiar story of surf paradises lost.
A new documentary, Point of Change, by filmmaker Rebecca Coley explores what happens when surfers start being polite and start getting real. Per The Guardian’s review:
Word got out to the surfing community about Nias’ idyllic charms, and soon led to boatloads of tourists, pollution and a local populace all too eager to profit from the visitors’ appetites for drugs, alcohol and sex. Geisel, Lovett and others developed malaria. People went mysteriously missing and some died suddenly abroad, suggesting dark forces at work; these were talked of by the locals who believed in shamanism and the presence of dark magic.
Surfers, man. Can’t take them anywhere.
Coley focuses on the dark magic bits, apparently, not writing off evil spirits at play. The Guardian, classically science-based, declares the director “rather indulges this woo-woo mysticism making Point of Change both a bit creepier and sillier at the same time” thus knocking two stars off the rating.
What are your thoughts about that?
I once went deep down a Bolivian silver mine and there was a devil down there whom miners offered cigarettes and coca leaves. He was very creepy and also, I guess, a little silly. But more creepy, certainly.
Examine trailer for Nias doco here.
