Watch: Australian filmmaker smashes
surfing’s crushing insularity with all-girl full-length film,
“Rowdy, Brash, Smart-Mouthed!”
By Derek Rielly
A propulsive and vivid paean to the surfing of
Stephanie Gilmore, Nikki Van Dijk, Tyler Wright, Macy Callaghan and
Dimity Stoyle.
The Gold Coast filmmaker Dan Scott, noted for his
slow-motion cuts on Instagram, has released, after much ado, his
paean to the surfing of Stephanie Gilmore, Nikki Van Dijk,
Tyler Wright, Macy Callaghan and Dimity Stoyle.
Over the course of twenty-seven minutes, “Surfing” centres on
the extreme athletic action of the aforementioned surfers, with
particuliar attention paid to the seven-time world champion
Stephanie Gilmore, whose cool reserve masks a ferociously
competitive will.
World champion surfer Kelly Slater reveals
life inside the world’s most exclusive trailer park!
By Derek Rielly
Slater recreates Malibu's famous Paradise Cove 40
miles south of Fresno in the San Joaquin Valley.
For two weeks each year, the eleven-time world champion
surfer Kelly Slater lives in a second-hand Airstream caravan, those
vehicles recognisable by their distinctive rounded and polished
aluminium body, at the wavepool he built in Lemoore,
California.
This five-minute short finds Slater, an old man, now, although
nothing would indicate his advancing years, with that famously
fine, clear brown complexion, a splendid chest and big arms. He
smiles often as he directs surf fans through his caravan and around
the much loved wave pool.
A guitar is picked up and song improvised, Slater’s voice deep
and unwavering.
We see Slater’s book shelf which includes a copy of the Bible
translated into pidgin Hawaiian (Da Jesus Book), a
philosophical treatise on the working man (The Pleasures and
Sorrow of Work by Alain de Botton), Norman Mailer’s seminal
The Fight, a biography of surfer-turned-UFC fighter Richie
Vaculik (Bra Boy) and a picture book of crop circles.
“It’s just a picture book, it’s the easiest one to read,” says
Slater.
We wander around the pool, an air rifle is used to pierce a
bottle, Slater explains how to pour almond milk, the cameraman is
warned never to use the van’s toilet for anything other than
splashing water on face, there’s a little history of the pool and
Slater reveals his favourite music comes from his new friend
Anderson Paak, although the cover of Paak’s album is blurred for
reasons unknown.
Essential viewing.
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Toz on an earlier trip.
Internet explodes over Australian surfers’
road trip through Ireland and Morocco: “This is exactly what
surfing is missing right now!”
By Derek Rielly
Briny and foul with sexiness!
Yeah, explodes is an overreach, gotta bait that hook,
but the simple tale of two Australians fitting out a camper van and
chasing winter swells through Scotland, Ireland and into
West Africa has become a surprise hit.
In stark contrast to the WSL’s production line of
“very nice, very pretty and a
obedient as a tame animal” films, a long-cut of surfer
Torren Martyn and his auteur pal Ishka Folkwell documenting their
three months chasing Atlantic swells has a legitimacy that
resonates with audiences.
Here’s what people are saying.
“This is exactly what surfing is missing right now. What an
awesome adventure that gives you the feeling of being there. Thanks
for bringing back beautiful memories of Scotland and Ireland for
me!” says Canadian pro Peter Devries.
More,
“You guys have once again captured the magic of surf + travel
beautifully. Soo well done, thankyou for showing us your
adventure.”
“This was exactly what I needed in these dark times. One year
without surf, nagging injuries, heavy & dark thoughts, Covid etc
and now my froth came back in an instant together with some tears
and smiles throughout these 40 minutes of pure joy. Thank you
legends! Much love from Sweden.”
No seventies pussy hair or shaved babylike snatches, but briny
and foul with sexiness nevertheless.
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Dion, free as a bird. John Respondek
Globe releases full-length surf movie, “The
universe is a meat grinder and we’re just pork in designer shoes,
keeping busy so we can pretend we’re not all headed for the sausage
factory!”
By Derek Rielly
Australian surfer Dion Agius releases a love letter
to Tasmania, a state he adopted after living in "hellish" LA and
Byron Bay.
The Australian surfer Dion Agius, who made his name as a
regular in his best friend Kai Neville’s surfing movies, lives in a
little wooden cabin in the town of Scamander at the mouth of the
Scamander River between Saint Helens and Saint Mary in
Tasmania, an island off Australia’s mainland.
Dion, who is thirty six, moved to Tasmania after two years in
Los Angeles selling Epohke sunglasses that he describes as “the
worst two years of my life. It changed my whole perspective on
life. I was living with my buddy who ended up passing away and it
got to the point where I was living in this shithole traffic going
to showings and thinking, ‘What the fuck am I doing? This is
horrible.’ It made me revaluate my life. It’s not about making a
quick buck. I found a spot down here, forty acres on a river, no
one around.”
This movie, which was funded by the shoe company Globe, is a
sort of love letter to Dion’s slice of the world, with
environmental overtones etc.
See: Miracle waves ridden, pier shooting on
Lake Tahoe with Dylan Graves in “People get depressed because they
get bored. I don’t get bored because I know how to go into the
unknown!”
By Derek Rielly
Get your kazoo blown six thousand feet above sea
level!
Men can be divided into two groups, those that take
their watches off and those that leave ’em on.
Dylan Graves is a thirty-five-year-old surfer from Puerto Rico
with more than fifty thousand followers on his Instagram account
and a long scrawny neck and a sharp Adam’s apple and big
long-fingered hands, like those of a flautist. He is in the former
camp, a freewheeler for whom pleasure always beats ambition and the
pursuit of cash.
In the fourth and final episode of Van’ third Weird Waves
season, Dylan opens his can of feel-good beans and pours it over
the meat of a windswell on Lake Tahoe, one of North America’s great
alpine lakes.
Very shreddable two-foot waves are taken apart, there’s a cameo
from nineties pro Jon Rose, and the episode concludes with a little
pier shooting.
