The seventh annual Wavescape Surf Film Festival kickstarts the 2010 summer season in Cape Town with a bumper crop of adrenaline-charged surf movies.
Presented by the Save Our Seas Foundation, the festival (from December 1 to 19) focuses on the critical plight of the world’s oceans, and surfing development in South Africa.
The festival begins with the Wavescape Surfboard Art Exhibition from December 1 to 7 at the trendy Cape Town restaurant Depasco Cafe. Twelve surfboards decorated by artists will go on auction on December 8. Proceeds go to ocean charities, including the SOSF, NSRI and Shark Spotters, with a special board decorated by township children to be auctioned on behalf of the Ticket to Ride Foundation’s surfing development programme.
Also to be auctioned will be a mini-surfboard reshaped from a broken board, part of the My First Surfboard Project. Every year, thousands of broken surfboards end up in dumps and landfills, and are environmentally toxic. The project turns broken boards into new boards for beginner surfers who can’t afford them, transforming junk into transforming a kid’s life.
The film section of the festival begins with the open-air free screening of Scratching the Surface on Clifton Fourth Beach on Friday December 10 after the sun goes down. The film includes cutting edge camera technology in use by pioneering surf filmmakers.
Thousands of like-minded people gather on the beach with picnics from early in the evening to enjoy a long, languid summer evening. Indoor films will be screened at the Brass Bell in Kalk Bay from December 12 to 15 and at the Labia Theatre on Orange from December 16 to 19.
Prize giveaways from official surfing sponsor Quiksilver and Roxy will be randomly handed out to members of the audience throughout the festival, with three Sector 9 skateboards and surfboard giveaways added to the loot at Clifton Fourth.
According to curator of the festival Spike from Wavescape.co.za, the festival offers the most diverse line-up of films since the first Wavescape festival in 2004.
“There is something for everyone, from the usual soulful visuals and underground soundtracks to the hot moves of the now generation. Among others, Modern Collective and Scratching the Surface showcase the most awe-inspiring waves of the world and the outrageous aerial and other skills of the new guard, including Julian Wilson, Dusty Payne, Dane Reynolds and South African Jordy Smith.
“However, we also represent the darker side of surfing. Sea of Darkness exposes the sometimes grisly, drug-scarred underbelly of the surf travel dream, while the award-winning Lives of the Artists documents a freakish French snowboarder, crazy Irish surfers and an angry British punk band in their quest for the salt-encrusted, powder-snowed, guitar-ghettoed grail of their inner artist.”
“Fibreglass and Megapixels brings to life the vivid digital world of surfing photography, featuring top South African photographer Pierre Tostee. We also have a special screening of End of the Line, a scary film about the extinction of fish that has caused a global stir, and two films about how surfing can transform the lives of the disadvantaged: Surfing Favelas (Brazil) and Somewhere in Tapachula (Mexico).”
source: wavescape