The 2016 San Diego Surf Film Festival will highlight over 35 international films, dozens of filmmakers and producers in attendance, intimate Q&As, filmmaker panel and workshops, an amazing surf art gallery, surf legends and shaping demos, beach clean-ups and expression sessions, incredible live music, serendipitous live art, book-signings, rad folks and raging after-parties. The event on May 18-28 welcomes surf enthusiasts and filmmakers from around the world to come celebrate the art of surf cinema in the heart of San Diego.
San Diego may not be the birthplace of surfing but there is no denying the contributions and innovations that this beautiful city and our ocean-loving community have shared with the surfing world. Early in the 20th century, visiting Hawaiians George Freeth and Duke Kahanamoku sewed seeds into fertile soil that still flourish to this very day. Since our first waves were ridden, our surfing timeline consists of revered names as Simmons, Ekstrom, Gordon, Van Artsdalen, Frye, Diffenderfer, Hansen, Curren, Caster, Hynson, Dobson, Oakey, Benson, Lis, O’Rourke, Divine, Preisendorfer, Mirandon, Pendarvis, Roper, Thrailkill, Warner, Beal, Kenvin, Steele, Hall, Burch, Feighan, Littlemore and Baker…and this merely scratches the surface. Intertwine this amazing history with 75 miles of diverse coastline, a new crop of creative board designers and an incredibly deep talent pool, you quickly come to understand San Diego simply lives and breathes everything that is wave riding.
Since the festival’s inception, it has been anchored towards celebrating those who draw a different line in life. Much like the colorful characters of surfing’s past, the future of surf cinema will also be found in the underground. The event champions the independent filmmaker and their quest to capture and convey the very special feeling of being a surfer. And with this in mind, organizers continue to present the finest independent surf films from around the globe.
Features include:
ApeShapes: ApeShapes is an original Freesoul Film about April Newman, a woman with courage to carve her own path and go beyond the norm. April Newman started her own surfboard shaping company called ApeShapes right here in Ocean Park, California. With her eye for color and 70’s style shaping, she is able to bring so much life into her surfboards.
Beauty & Chaos: A short film following Irish surfer Conor Maguire as he travels through the monsoon soaked colours of India and the lush landscapes of Indonesia, documenting the places and faces he meets along the way.
Deep Islands: Deep into nature full of lush green and turquoise waters “DEEP ISLANDS” is a short film celebrating a microcosm in symbiosis and the beauty of surfing, in a dreamy paradise of the south east islands in the Indian Ocean, a fragile coral paradise that maybe lost and needs to be preserved.
Freezing – A Cold Water Surf Trip: Freezing is a journey to the icy fringes of cold water exploration – in search of a mythical wave – that pushes friendships, frontiers and fortitude to their very limits. Two British surfers embark on surf trip to the black sand beaches of Iceland in search of a perfect wave, glimpsed in the background of an old family photo.
The Josh Hall Story: Josh Hall is a young, ambitious shaper who blends San Diego’s legendary surfing history and culture with progressive designs. In this short film, we dig into his formidable Pacific Beach (“PB”) roots. Josh runs us through seminal life events involving local legends Skip Frye, Joe Roper, and Eric “Bird” Huffman. We learn what specifically led him to his current state of mind and business, though he humbly maintains that his path has been akin to a decree of divine providence. As the heir apparent, Josh balances the weight of the responsibility of carrying on this distinct cultural legacy with his sizable business aspirations.
