All of these have been shot on the North East coast this winter, with an old 35mm diving camera and developed in the kitchen sink of Graham Sykes.

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“I kept saying, ‘I don’t want it to be negative.’ I didn’t want it to be a male-bashing film at all.” First-time director Heather Hudson has two teenage sons, a husband and counts Gerry Lopez as a friend. So when she and co-producer Peck Euwer – who happens to be a bloke – set about making ‘The Women and the Waves’, the goal was not to start a bikini-burning revolution, but simply to explore the experience of surfing over the decades from the feminine perspective.

Having started surfing in the 1970s when she moved with her family to Malibu as a teenager, Heather’s personal experience positioned her perfectly to tackle the project. “Back then there weren’t a lot of women surfing. You just didn’t see other women in the water,” she says. “You pretty much had to teach yourself.”

She recalls the day that she first went out in small waves at Surfrider Beach on a board borrowed from her boyfriend. “I remember thinking, ‘I’m always going to do this my whole life.’ I just knew it.” Nevertheless, a decent set rolled in and the boyfriend urged Heather off the board so he could catch a wave. “It cracks me up. He said, ‘Get off, get off the board.’ That’s how much the boys helped the girls surf!” she laughs raucously.

The film – which gets its UK premiere 24 April at the Surf Show in Bristol – documents the experiences of 10 female surfers ages 17 to 64 as they’ve made their marks in the water, and as the water has made its mark on them. Weaving interviews together with archival footage and new high-definition surfing scenes, it’s a tribute to early female pioneers who paddled out into all-male line-ups and charged waves where women had previously feared to tread.

As well as the subject matter, the format of the film has a woman’s touch too. “Women like to discuss things. We like to talk about stuff!” Heather points out. “There are so many surf films, but the ones that interest me are the ones where you learn a little bit about the people. I love hearing people’s stories – that’s the way I am.”

The interview subjects range from five-time Women’s World Champion Linda Benson, who began riding waves at age 11 in 1955, to 22-year-old Aussie waterwoman Shakira Westdorp, who regularly drops into heart-stopping bombs at Waimea Bay. But the reflection doesn’t stop there – Peck and Heather also turned the lens on figures close to the surfers themselves. Mothers, friends, husbands and boyfriends talk about the girls and women they love and their unquenchable addiction for waves.

Heather’s favourite quote in the film came from Jenny Useldinger’s mother, who was herself a pro surfer in the 1970s. “She says surfing is a dance; it’s not brute strength against the wave. You need to have finesse and you need to know how to swim – it’s not necessarily being a muscleman.”

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Ashley Lloyd, mainland Mexico

A major component of Heather’s motivation for making the film was to shed light on an area that doesn’t always get much airplay. “The image that the media puts out is so different from everyday life for surfers. There are young men that are 18 to 25 that rip, ok? Other people look at surfing and they think that those are the only people that surf. But in everyday life now there are kids that are five, there are old men that are 80. There are all types of different people that surf.”

Gradually the film took on another purpose as well, emerging as a snapshot of an era that’s swiftly fading away. These days the profile of women’s surfing is undeniably on the rise, with Maya Gabeira grabbing column inches all over the mainstream press for her big wave exploits and ‘Surfer’ magazine ending its 14-year single-sex streak with its Carissa Moore cover last year. ‘The Women and the Waves’ reminds us that feats like these would have been impossible were it not for a few lone female riders back in the day who dared to take the plunge.

The film documents the way things were when ladies wore boys’ boardshorts because no-one was manufacturing them for girls, when the only women depicted in surfing magazines were lying on beaches in bikinis reading paperbacks, and when more than two girls in a line-up was cause for comment. “It’s like a little time capsule saying, ‘This is what happened’,” affirms Heather.

Since its debut last year, ‘The Women and the Waves’ has been an official selection at 13 film festivals, and has been screened in front of audiences from Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz and from New Zealand to New York. Its thoughtful observations have broad appeal across geography – not to mention gender. “Men do come up after screenings thanking me,” Heather says, “because a lot of them have wives and girlfriends and daughters that surf.”

The best endorsement so far however has come from a Hollywood-born octogenarian who got her surfing start in Malibu in the mid-50s. By 1958, the legendary Marge Calhoun was charging the North Shore and winning the Makaha. If anyone knows what it’s like to make it in a man’s world, it’s her. She sent Heather a two-page handwritten thank you letter after watching the film. “Well finally, after years of waiting and wishing,” it reads, “you and your friends have come through with a picture capturing the hearts and souls of true women of the ocean and surfing world, as I have always felt it to be, but thought I was alone and others didn’t understand. Your documentary captures it all with great narration to complete the picture. I don’t know if I ever met these women but I somehow live in them. They are the real thing.”

‘The Women and the Waves’ premieres at 4.30pm on Saturday 24 April at the WaveRiders Film Festival during the Surf Show, an event celebrating surfing, ocean sports and coastal lifestyle through fashion, film, photography, art, music, demonstrations, lectures and more. Tickets are available online.

Surf Show
24-25 April
The Anson Rooms
Queens Road
Clifton
Bristol BS8 1LN

The guys in questions are Stefan Hunt and Jonno Durrant, who are currently touring Australia with their second movie ‘Somewhere Near Tapachula’, a documentary about Mision Mexico, an orphanage owned and run by an Australian couple, Alan and Pam Skuse, who care for around 50+ Mexican children.

The movie itself is a emotional ride, telling the tale of how MM came about, sharing the deeply disturbing stories of some of the orphans, but also exploring how surfing has helped the children cope with their hardships, and how the wider surfing community has welcomed this new family with open arms.

A non-profit movie, funded by Hurley and GSI, everyone involved hopes that ‘Somewhere Near Tapachula’ helps show how surfing can make a positive impact on some of the most isolated parts of the world.

…I took a seat in the conversation and caught up with Stef and Jonno to find out how the film was being received…

Drift: I just saw ‘Somewhere Near Tapachula’ at Surf City (an event running alongside Noosa Longboard Festival) and was really moved by the whole thing. At what point did this turn from a volunteering trip into a movie?
Stefan: Mision Mexico ordered a copy of our first movie [‘Surfing 50 States’] for their surf club. A few months later I was researching a surf trip in Mexico and thought of them and decided to volunteer for two months. Within a week of being there and hearing both the story of setting up MM and how it has changed the children’s lives I knew I wanted to make a documentary. I called Jonno and he quickly got on the case rustling up equipment. Within a month he had joined me and we were filming. There was no pre-production, no storyboards, we just jumped straight in.

Drift: It’s a bit of a different angle from the humour and adventure of your first movie – was that a challenge?
Jonno: Yes. We could’ve easily focused on the surf and the pros coming down to teach them. But it was bigger than that, it wasn’t just going to be a surf movie. We wanted the orphanage to be the main story, using the surf to tap into that genre and the ethos it is founded upon. We also used the surf scenes to break up the movie when it got deep and heavy; we didn’t want it to end up being depressing.
Stefan: Yeah, we wanted to show surfers how lucky we are, especially in Western society. We take life and surfing for granted. You’ve got people leaving work with stress and heading to the water to clear their heads and relax – MM is that kind of vibe but on an intense level. Surfing is helping these kids escape from the harsh realities of their pasts.

Drift: It’s obviously quite a deep story – how has the experience affected you guys?
Jonno: It’s been life changing. Even just the volunteer aspect of it. Every time we watch the screenings it still gets emotional; we were there, we filmed it, but it’s still so raw. It makes you appreciate what you have in Oz. We bonded with the all the kids and I don’t think that will ever leave us.
Stefan: We were there for three months, filming and helping out. In that kind of time you get to know everyone and all their stories: it’s a heavy mixture of sadness for what they’ve been through and happiness for what their prospects now are.

Drift: So when did it go from making another movie to a full-scale fundraiser?
Stefan: Right from the start. It was the inspiration behind the film. Volunteers come and go from this place, many of them volunteer because they’re not in a place to help financially – I certainly wasn’t. We wanted to help them further – long term. And as a not-for-profit film, that’s what we’re doing.
People keep referring to the film as a project – I don’t think that’s the case. It’s a cause, we just happened to end up filming it. Like I’ve said before, there was no planning – it just evolved naturally.

Jonno: And once we spread the word about what we were creating and the fact it wasn’t for profit we had a lot of people chipping in – they wanted to do their bit to help. The tour was pretty much organised for us, there’s all these screenings that want to spread the message and all we have to do is turn up.

Drift: Funding wise you have some pretty big names behind you, both financially and for the soundtrack – how did you get them on board?
Stefan: Hurley have been involved with us since our first movie. When we approached them they were super keen and really supportive. GSI had already been involved with MM, donating heaps of boards and equipment to them even before we’d heard of it – for them helping out the movie was a natural step from that. They [GSI] had already seen the impact they’d made, and they wanted to raise awareness further. Between them, both companies covered all our costs – so every $ goes back to helping MM. It’s a win-win situation on everyone’s part.

Jonno: Music-wise the artists were also supportive. We’ve got some big names in there such as Jack Johnson, The John Butler Trio and The Beautiful Girls. A lot of those people already have their own charities and were more than happy to donate their music – the whole soundtrack was free.

Stefan: That was a massive load off our minds. We learnt from ‘Surfing 50 States’ how complex the copyright with music is. We could only use indie music! Also having big names such as Jack on the soundtrack always broadens the audience, which meant more people to spread the word.

Drift: You’re halfway through the Australian tour – what’s the feedback been like?
Stefan: It’s been raw, completely mind-blowing. It’s amazing how touched people have been by the whole thing – there’s tears at every screening.

Jonno: It was everything we’d been hoping and expecting due to the nature of it, but it’s gone even further than we thought. We’ve already raised over $50,000 for MM, so we’re set to smash our $100,000 target. People have been so generous.
The Tim Baker quote caught us well off-guard too – to hear our work described as “possibly the most important surf movie of our generation” got us really stoked. It’s also helped us as filmmakers, which we will obviously utilise further down the line on our next film and also boost the profile of MM.

Drift: Do you wonder about the knock-on affect the project could have – obviously there are potential positives and negatives.
Jonno: It’s weird viewing it as a project, I mean there isn’t a real start or end to this, we’re always going to be in touch with MM. I guess the main worry is obviously spoiling the empty surf where MM go. But we’ve been there, it’s a whole isolated coastline of empty waves – it isn’t going to get crowded in a hurry!

Stefan: Yeah, MM only really hit three breaks round there, so I don’t worry about that.
We have been speaking to Mo (one of the orphans, who’s now studying on the Gold Coast at University) and discussing the ways he can utilise the exposure – possibly setting up a surf camp and getting some cash in from tourism and westerners wanting to surf empty breaks. The only issue is he’s here in Oz, he’s seen how crowded places like Snappers and Noosa get – he doesn’t want to turn it into the Goldie!
On a major plus though, MM is packed out with volunteers now – they don’t have any places until well past September, which is brilliant!

Drift: People who hear about the story or watch the film are going to want to help out – any advice?
Stefan: There’s a few ways – obviously the first is financially, but not everyone can – so time is the next best thing. If you can – go volunteer. Sharing the story yourself is just as good, pass it on, share the stoke.
But it’s not just about MM. We want the film to help people realise that surfing can help everyone, even spending an hour helping out in your local town is just as good – we just want people to help anyone less fortunate than themselves.

Drift: You’ve obviously got the next few months tied up with screenings and such like, but are there any new projects in the pipeline? Are you taking a break from the heavy stuff for a bit or sticking with the documentaries?
Jonno: We were actually batting around ideas when you turned up! We quite fancy going back to the States concept again. I fancy hitting Japan but Stef seems set on India.

Stefan: Yeah, we’re taking a slight break from the heavy stuff. It’s been great and we’ve learnt a lot from it all, both professionally and personally. But it’s also a not-for-profit film. We want to get something commercially saleable done to help fund our next fundraising film – and if we go to India I’m sure we’d find our next Tapachula along the way.

Jonno: I think a lot of our movies will contain the Tapachula feeling from now on, even if it’s a small segment where we take some local kids to the beach.
We’ve also talked over the idea of making MM a long-running thing: there are so many stories and paths to follow – Mo coming to Oz is one of them.

Stefan: I think if we can build on the success of SNT it will mean we can produce better movies, which in the long run will mean we can help a lot more causes.
For the moment though it’s all just drawing-room talk – SNT still has a lot of life in it…

If you have, then we’re sure you’re giddy to see his new film “Little Black Wheels.” To help ease that anxiety, Drift is doing yet another giveaway contest, this time hooking you up with a copy of “Little Black Wheels.”

Enter the competion here, but please be aware it is only open to US Residents at this time.

Also check our article here or Johnny’s interview here.

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The film, simply known as “___”, is open to interpretation by the viewers. Johnny describes his latest project as “A glimpse into the surf/party underworld, away from the idealistic locations and groomed surf pornography of the mainstream. Exploring the fragmented world of a surf culture, through the blurred eyes of a few.”

Our comrades in the States just published a wicked interview with Johnny, which you can read here.

And there’s more madness on the “___” blog.

An 8 hour drive saw us arrive on the Isle of Skye in much need of sleep, it was dark so I decided to take a chance and turn down the nearest track, wondering if I had picked one of the great viewing points we had read so much about… as it turns out we hadn’t read enough… we woke to the sound of a cow just outside the van only to discover we had spent the night in a grave yard! It was time to hit the road again ready to catch the ferry to the neighbouring Isle of Uist. North Uist was mind blowing… soft white sand, turquoise water and empty breaks… we were stoked. A few days around Hosta and we were back on the ferry heading for the Isle of Harris/Lewis. The mini tornado which had hit Lewis the day before we arrived turning cars and lifting roofs, had cleared. Our first stop was to be the cliff break Valtos… feeling somewhat disappointed by the 3’ on shore conditions we decided to make some food then venture up the coast. We started chatting to a local surfer named Sophie who had just left the water. I was looking for the most amazing surf and wondered if Sophie would know exactly where to find it. Seems she did as we found our way to Dalmore and scored an excellent session. The next morning we checked the surf but it had dropped off quite a bit so we were on the road to Europie but it turned out to be small and messy…. as was Bravas, Arnol and Bragar. Long discussions lead us back to Dalmore in hope that the rising tide would work its magic but it hadn’t. My wave lust got the better of me and I went in anyway… sadly it turned out to be one of those… ‘’I wish I hadn’t bothered’’ sessions!? I was leaving the water a little disgruntled to say the least as this was our last day on Lewis, when I spotted Sophie on the beach waving. I walked over for a chat explaining how I craved one last surf before we started the second leg of our journey to Devon. Sophie and her friend Laura told us to hang around for low tide as this is when ‘’Dumpy Dalmore’’ is at its best.

We grabbed some food then I reached for my camera… awaiting the miracle. I watched as local surfers began to enter the water but the 2-3’ conditions were doing nothing for me. Then slowly but surely as the tide decreased the swell increased to 5’… I actually left the camera on its tripod and ran for my board! Was it coincidence that we had bumped into Sophie and Laura? Either way I’m glad we did or I could have been chasing waves all the way back to Newcastle. We left the water as it got dark and I collected my camera from the beach. I really should have been taking pictures but I didn’t, I surfed. I’ll never forget that surf, everything about it was perfect… clean punchy waves, stunning views and great company! I did however pick up my camera when we arrived in Devon, sacrificing precious surf time to capture the most amazing light as the sun began to set over the water… the question was… digital or analogue!?

I shot this photo digitally in the studio, as I wanted to create a surf silhouette against a red background. I set my camera to Manual, ISO 100, White balance to flash, shutter speed 1/125 sec and aperture f16. In order to create the silhouette, I photographed my subject against a light source creating a strong contrast between light and dark, emphasising the subject. I used a white scoop, x1 large soft box on low power purely as a modelling lamp, allowing me to focus on my subject (not slaved to background lights), x2 flash heads with spill kills and red lighting gels as my background lights (behind and to the side of the subject, aim for even lighting), x2 8’ boards either side of my subject to stop the flash light from filling in unwanted detail.

If you haven’t used a camera manually in the studio, all is not lost, in fact some of my favourite silhouette shots were taken during sunsets or sunrise with a LOMO L-CA. Position yourself so that your subject is between you and a strong light source and release the shutter. I enjoy Lomography’s care free… ‘Break all the rules’ approach to photography but I also believe in learning the rules before you break them. This will help you create the effects you want depending on the conditions you are shooting in. Or simply choose to be a true Lomographer… shoot without thinking and enjoy making happy mistakes.

Ali

Ross Johns was half the team that produced the critically acclaimed Brit longboard flick “State of Play”. Since finishing that project he’s been hard at work on his own film, titled ‘Fusion’ and promising to feature a veritable smorgesbord of high level surfing on long and shortboards.

Ross has spent a lot of time sleeping in his car, clocking up the miles up and down the southwest, the northeast and even to a few slabs in Scotland (see the opening picture).

No official release date yet but keep your eyes peeled, it’ll be worth the wait when it’s done!

Mr B, whose fourth film, ’21 Days Later’, is out this month on DVD, chats to Christiaan Bailey about his work, trying to extract money from the surf industry, and the British surf film scene…

Christiaan Bailey: So, who the hell are you and why should people be interested in your work?
Mr B: I’m Mr B, I previously shot, edited, and produced ‘Performing Monkeys’, ‘Driven’, and ‘Substance’. All my films have been based around Britain and Ireland and have all focused on British and Irish surfers. They all in some way try to show the best surf and surfing that the British Isles have to offer, so if you enjoy watching our surfers going big in cold waves, check out my previous films.

CB: What defines your approach, what are your aims/ambitions for your work?
Mr B: I’ve always tried to be quite strict with the standard of surfing that makes it into my films. I have seen in the past that, sometimes, British surfing has been portrayed as thousands of levels below international standard and I really wanted to avoid this. So I’ve always tried to work with the surfers I consider the most talented where possible. However my idea of what great surfing has changed over time and I’m really looking at how surfers keep flow in their surfing.
I also have wanted to keep my films exciting, entertaining and not too serious (‘Driven’ obviously an exception) because I was just fed up with the all-acoustic trend surf films had gone into. But it always goes around in circles, it went from one extreme to another, raw punk trick flicks in the 1990s to mellow, acoustic, insightful (with a dash of hypocrisy thrown in here and there) films in the 2000s. Not generalising or anything!

CB: Who/what influences/inspires you to produce these films?
Mr B: Obviously the waves and the surfing. I love surfing and filming in the UK when it’s good. As far as surf film influence, I wouldn’t pick one particular director, just various surf films that inspired me.

CB: This is your fourth film now in four years, so how do manage to fit it all in and sustain your level of production?
Mr B: It’s been a lot of work. I always get told that I’ve got the easiest and most fun job in the world by all my friends, and I know I’m lucky to be able to do it, but they don’t know the amount of work that goes into making the films. From shooting to getting them out on the shelves – it’s a long process. For about three years I sacrificed a lot of my personal life to be able to keep up the productions, but I have burnt out on it the last year. Luckily for the most recent film I had all the footage already and I didn’t set myself any deadlines so there’s been nowhere near the same pressure.

CB: Please tell us about your latest project, how long has it been in the pipeline and what was your vision for it?
Mr B: I actually shot this film in 2006. It was all shot in the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia where I went on a boat trip with seven great British and Irish surfers and photographer Roger Sharp. A short DVD was edited up of the trip and given away with Slide Magazine, which Tim Nunn edited. Last year I started going back through and logging all the footage from the trip and realised there was so much footage that didn’t get used. Tim had no budget and literally no time to edit the film, and he did a fantastic job, especially considering the time constraints, but I just felt like I wanted to make a film about the trip in a different format where you learned a bit more about the surfers and the waves.
When I shot the trip, I didn’t really have a vision for the film, as I was just about to release my first film and was just onboard to film the surfing and get to know everyone. When I started to go through the footage again last year, I thought I’d like to make a film about the Mentawais where you learned more about the actual waves themselves, rather than just a montage of highlights to music. I couldn’t go back and shoot interviews there, so I decided a retrospective voice over would work well.

CB: How would you say this latest work builds upon your previous films and is it in any way a departure or change of tack for you?
Mr B: It’s definitely a change of tack. With this film I wanted to convey the different moods of each break, and also wanted to give a bit more insight to the surfers thoughts about the waves and a few different aspects of surfing. I think overall it’s quite a feel good film too. It’s also got two female surfers on (I haven’t had any female surfers on my previous films).

CB: How did this film come together and who are the principle parties involved?
Mr B: I got together a rough first edit of how I wanted the film to pan out and then spoke to and showed three of the seven surfers who were on the trip to see if they’d be interested in recording some voice over to give some insight to about the waves, the trip and different aspects of surfing. So I arranged for myself, Lee Bartlett, Sam Lamiroy and Alan Stokes to record the voice over, as well as a full commentary over the film, which will be on the bonus features. The other surfers on the trip were Reubyn Ash, Easkey Britton, Robyn Davies and Mike Morgan. Other than that I did everything on the film – shot, edited, produced, directed, titles, map effects, made the tea.
I would like to say thanks to Roger Sharp who contributed some fantastic photos from the trip for me to use in the cover and poster, and to John Downie for doing an exceptional job on the graphics.

CB: You have been entering Board Shorts with experimental edits of your features, working in conjunction with other artists. How has the experience of working with other artists been and how has it inspired your current work?
Mr B: It was great giving someone else the freedom to create part of the film (the soundtrack) and for it to dictate how I edit the film. It completely alters how you approach filmmaking on your own and it’s more spontaneous and fulfilling because you have to adapt to what the other artist is contributing to the film. I’d definitely like to be part of more collaborations.

CB: What are your ambitions for your work and for you as a surf filmmaker – where would you like to get to, what would you like to achieve with/through your work.
Mr B: My ambitions are to first get a budget to make a film; unfortunately it’s got to a point where it’s just not viable to simply sell your films. I’d really like to get to a position where I could shoot and direct a film with a budget that I work on with other people (cameramen, editors, producers etc) to create a really high quality, interesting production. My favourite thing is to shoot in the water, and I’d love to be able to film more water footage for other people’s productions – particularly with the surfers that I have a good connections with.

CB: Do you have a vision of a film that you would like to make given unlimited budget/time/crew etc?
Mr B: I have got a film in mind, which a couple of us are planning and trying to raise a budget for, but I can’t disclose details. It will be a documentary and will have a much broader appeal to the general public. If it comes off it will be pretty exciting but it’s a long way off yet. I’d love to get it broadcast.
I’d love to have a budget to go and spend some more time with Al and Cotty and do some more exploring with them too.
There are a lot of films I’d like to make thinking about it, I just need the budget!

CB: Tell us a bit about the UK surf film scene, what do you think of it and how do you think it stands up alongside other countries’ offerings?
Mr B: The UK surf film scene is massively under-budgeted. Overall it’s a group of independent filmmakers doing what they can, when they can. British surf companies don’t really see surf videos as a marketing option (unless it’s cheesy little web casts or something) compared to other countries, but you can’t blame them because maybe the marketing reach isn’t there with a British surf film! Mikey Smith has recently managed to tap into a bit of budget with ‘Relentless Revolution’ and ‘Powers Of Three’ and it was great to see him do a fantastic job with it, both films turned out great.
Obviously this puts the British surf film scene a bit behind other major surf countries like Australia and the US in the finished production level because they have so much more money to throw at their films, but it also gives the British filmmakers a bit more freedom to make what they want, and Mikey and Lee Evans have shown that the production quality and level can still be outstanding.
British and Irish surf films also have their own unique feel about them which comes from the landscape, light, water colour and temperature, and the individuals that have to put in that extra effort to surf here.

Find out more about ’21 Days Later’ here.