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Surf movies fall into three distinct genres: *the surfing documentary - targeting the surfing enthusiast *the 1960s beach party films - targeting the broader community *fictional feature films with a focus on the reality of surfing


Surfing documentaries

The earliest-known, footage of people surfing, an ''
actuality film The actuality film is a non-fiction film genre that, like the documentary film, uses footage of real events, places, and things. Unlike the documentaries, actuality films are not structured into a larger argument, picture of the phenomenon or coh ...
'', was lensed by
Robert Kates Bonine The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, ho ...
(Born:14 September 1861, Altoona, PA; Died: 11 September 1923, Honolulu, HI;), beginning 31 May 1906, and at least until 12 August 1906, for
Thomas A. Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These invention ...
, distributed in 1907, called ''Hawaiian Islands'', composed of over thirty segments, of which three segments, ''Panoramic View - Waikiki Beach Honolulu'', ''Surf Board Riders - Waikiki Honolulu'', and ''Surf Scenes - Waikiki Honolulu'', depict people surfing. * * * :File:Hawaiian Islands A Film by Thomas A Edison Shot in 1906 v240P.webm * * * * * * * * :it:Boys Diving, Honolulu The surfing documentary film was pioneered by
Bud Browne Bud Browne (July 12, 1912 – July 25, 2008) was an American early pioneer surf film maker. He was the first filmmaker to show surf movies commercially. Browne was captain of the swim team at the University of Southern California in 1933. He ...
(e.g. ''Hawaiian Holiday'') in the early
1950s The 1950s (pronounced nineteen-fifties; commonly abbreviated as the "Fifties" or the " '50s") (among other variants) was a decade that began on January 1, 1950, and ended on December 31, 1959. Throughout the decade, the world continued its re ...
, and later popularized by Bruce Brown (e.g. ''
The Endless Summer ''The Endless Summer'' is a 1966 American surf documentary film directed, produced, edited and narrated by Bruce Brown. The film follows surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August on a surfing trip around the world. Despite the balmy mediterran ...
'') in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They were later advanced by Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman (e.g. '' Five Summer Stories'') in the 1970s and beyond (MacGillivray and Freeman later went on to film
IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graem ...
movies such as ''
To Fly! ''To Fly!'' is a 1976 American short docudrama film by Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman of MacGillivray Freeman Films. It was the premiere film of the National Air and Space Museum's giant-screen IMAX theater, which opened for the museum' ...
'' and ''Speed''). The genre itself has been defined by surfers traveling with their friends and documenting the experience on film. In the era of Bruce Brown, Greg Noll, Bud Browne,
John Severson John Severson (SEA-ver-son, 1933–2017) was an American editor, author, filmmaker and artist, widely known as the founder of '' Surfer'', a magazine focused on the sport and culture of surfing. Severson also created a diverse body of artwork ded ...
and others, films were projected for fans in music halls, civic centers, high school gyms, coffee houses, and high school auditoriums. During the 1980s, the market for surf films surged with the release of more affordable video cameras. By the 1990s, the surfing market became saturated with low and medium budget surf films, many with sound tracks that reflected the
surf music Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental s ...
. VHS and DVDs made the surf film viewing experience an "at home" affair, and the era of joining friends or taking a girl to "surf movie night" at the local high school soon waned. Furthermore, large surf brands began sponsoring surf films to promote clothing and product sales. Titles like Sonny Miller's, ''The Search'' for Rip Curl redefined the genre with exotic locales, big budgets and name surfers, such as Tom Curren. In the late 1990s to the present, there has been a revival of the "independent surf film." Artists, like
The Malloys The Malloys is the working name of music video and film directors and brothers Emmett Malloy and Brendan Malloy. They have been with Superprime Films since 2010. Videography *"Holiday" by Vampire Weekend (2010) *"Love Dealer" by Esmée Dente ...
,
Jack Johnson (musician) Jack Hody Johnson (born May 18, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter, filmmaker, and former professional surfer. Johnson is known primarily for his work in the soft rock and acoustic pop genres. In 2001, he achieved commercial success after ...
and Jason Baffa have reinvented the genre by shooting self-financed 16mm motion picture film and utilizing indy music bands like G. Love, Alexi Murdoch, Mojave 3, White Buffalo and Donavon Frankenreiter, creating what the surf media has called, "modern classics." Some venues still screen surfing films on the big screen. Examples of surfing documentaries include: *''Hawaiian Islands'' (1906) *''Surfing, National Sport in the Hawaiian Islands'' (1911) *''
Burton Holmes Elias Burton Holmes (1870–1958) was an American traveler, photographer and filmmaker, who coined the term "travelogue". Travel stories, slide shows, and motion pictures were all in existence before Holmes began his career, as was the profess ...
’ Hawaiian Shores'' (1921) *''Topical Budget 884-2 Bucking the Waves'' (1928) *''Pictorial Sportreel: Riding the Crest'' (1939)''Riding the Crest''
at
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music ...
*''Surfboard Rhythm'' (1947) *''Thrills of the Surf'' (1949) *''Surfing Daze'' (1949) *''
Slippery When Wet ''Slippery When Wet'' is the third studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi. It was released on August 18, 1986, by Mercury Records in North America and Vertigo Records internationally. It was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, with recording ses ...
'' (1958) *'' Surf Crazy'' (1959) *''Honolulu Surfing Daze'' (1959) *''
Barefoot Adventure ''Barefoot Adventure'' is a soundtrack album of music from Bruce Brown's 1961 surf film of the same name. All the music was composed by saxophonist Bud Shank, performed by him with a small jazz combo, and released on the Pacific Jazz label.
'' (1960) *'' Surfing Hollow Days'' (1961) *'' Waterlogged'' (1962) *''Gone With the Wave'' (1964) *''King of the Wild Waves'' (1964) *''The Living Curl'' (1965) *''
The Endless Summer ''The Endless Summer'' is a 1966 American surf documentary film directed, produced, edited and narrated by Bruce Brown. The film follows surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August on a surfing trip around the world. Despite the balmy mediterran ...
'' (1966) *''The Moods of Surfing'' (1967) *'' The Fantastic Plastic Machine'' (1969) * ''The Innermost Limits of Pure Fun'' (1970) *'' Five Summer Stories'' (1972) *'' Morning of the Earth'' (1973) * '' Crystal Voyager'' (1973) *''Tubular Swells'' (1975) *'' Storm Riders'' (1982) *''
Momentum In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. If is an object's mass ...
'' (1992) *'' Endless Summer II'' (1994) *''The Kill'' (1993) *'' Thicker than Water'' (2000) *''
September Sessions ''The September Sessions: The Tomorrowland Story Brought To Life In Brilliant 16mm Film'' is a 2002 documentary surf film directed by singer/songwriter Jack Johnson. Often called ''September Sessions'', it is the second of The Moonshine Conspira ...
'' (2000) *'' The Endless Summer: Revisited'' (2000) *''
Liquid Time ''Liquid Time'' is a 2002 avant-garde surf film that focuses solely on the fluid forms of tubing waves. Brothers Monty Webber Monty Webber (born 1961, Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Aust ...
'' (2002) *''Surf Movie: reels 1-14'' (2003) * ''Blue Horizon'' (2003) *'' Step Into Liquid'' (2003) *''Glass Love'' (2004) *''
Riding Giants ''Riding Giants'' is a 2004 documentary film produced by Agi Orsi and directed and narrated by Stacy Peralta, a famous skater/surfer. The movie traces the origins of surfing and specifically focuses on the art of big wave riding. Some of the ...
'' (2004) *''Somewhere, Anywhere, Everywhere'' (2004) *'' Singlefin: yellow'' (2004) *''The Seedling'' (2004) *''AKA Girl Surfer'' (2004) *''Billabong Odyssey'' (2005) *'' Fair Bits'' (2005) *''Going With The Flow: Classic California Soul Surfing'' (2005) *''Sprout'' (2005) *''A Broke Down Melody'' (2006) *''Free As A Dog'' (2006) *''Peel: The Peru Project - A Surf Odyssey'' (2006) *''The Secret Machine'' (2006) *'' One California Day'' (2007) *''Sipping Jetstreams'' (2007) *''The Forgotten Coast'' (2007) *''Bustin' Down the Door'' (2008) *''New Emissions of Light and Sound'' (2008) *''Live: A Music & Surfing Experience'' (2008) *''Water man'' (2008) *''
Waveriders ''Waveriders'' is a 2008 documentary film produced by Margo Harkin and directed by Joel Conroy. Synopsis ''Waveriders'' focuses on the Irish roots of surfing. The film covers the life of Irish-Hawaiian surfer George Freeth and his influence in ...
'' (2008) *'' Out of Place'' (2009) *''The Present'' (2009) *''Fiberglass and Megapixels'' (2010) *''First Love'' (2010) *'' God Went Surfing With The Devil'' (2010) *''
White Wash Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk calcium carbonate, (CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes used. ...
'' *''Year Zero'' (2011) *'' Drift'' (2012) *'' Here & Now: A Day in the Life of Surfing'' (2012) *''Strange Rumblings in Shangri-LA'' (2014) *''View from a Blue Moon'' (2015) * ''Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable'' (2018) *''Self Discovery for Social Survival'' (2019) *''In The Water, Behind The Lens'' (2022)


Beach Party films

The second type of surf movie would be the campy entertainment feature, also termed " beach party films" or "surfploitation flicks" by true surfers, having little to do with the authentic sport and culture of surfing and representing movies that attempted to cash in on the growing popularity of surfing among youth in the early 1960s. Examples of Beach Party films include: *''
Gidget Gidget () is a fictional character created by author Frederick Kohner (based on his teenaged daughter, Kathy) in his 1957 novel, ''Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas''. The novel follows the adventures of a teenaged girl and her surfing fr ...
'' (1959) *''
Gidget Goes Hawaiian ''Gidget Goes Hawaiian'' is a 1961 American romantic comedy musical film starring James Darren, Michael Callan and Deborah Walley. Released by Columbia Pictures, the film is a sequel to the 1959 Sandra Dee beach film vehicle ''Gidget''. Dee w ...
'' (1961) *''
Beach Party ''Beach Party'' is a 1963 American film and the first of seven beach party films from American International Pictures (AIP) aimed at a teen audience.Smith, Gary A. Smith (2009) ''The American International Pictures Video Guide'', McFarland p.2 ...
'' (1963) *'' Ride the Wild Surf'' (1964) *'' Surf Party'' (1964) *'' Beach Blanket Bingo'' (1965) *'' Malibu Beach'' (1978) *'' The Beach Girls'' (1982) *'' Spring Break'' (1983) *'' Hardbodies'' (1984) *''
Back to the Beach ''Back to the Beach'' is a 1987 American comedy film starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, directed by Lyndall Hobbs. The original music score is composed by Steve Dorff. The film generated a total domestic gross of $13,110,903. It r ...
'' (1987) *'' Teen Beach Movie'' (2013)


Narrative Surf Films

Surfing is occasionally portrayed more realistically within fictional storylines, or used as a backdrop, or side theme. *''
Big Wednesday ''Big Wednesday'' is a 1978 American coming of age film directed by John Milius. Written by Milius and Dennis Aaberg, it is loosely based on their own experiences at Malibu, California. The picture stars Jan-Michael Vincent, William Katt, and Ga ...
'' (1978) *'' Puberty Blues'' (1981) *'' Surf II'' (1984) *''
North Shore North Shore or Northshore may refer to: Geographic features Australia *North Shore (Sydney), a suburban region of Sydney **Electoral district of North Shore **North Shore railway line, Sydney *Noosa North Shore, Queensland * North Shore, New So ...
'' (1987) *'' Surf Nazis Must Die'' (1987) *''
Point Break ''Point Break'' is a 1991 American action crime film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by W. Peter Iliff. It stars Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey. The film's title refers to the surfing term " point break", wher ...
'' (1991) *''
A Scene at the Sea is a 1991 Japanese drama film written, edited and directed by Takeshi Kitano starring Claude Maki. Plot A deaf garbage collector happens upon a broken and discarded surfboard. The discovery plants in him dreams of becoming a surf champion. En ...
'' (1991) *''
Surf Ninjas ''Surf Ninjas'' is a 1993 American family comedy film involving martial arts, directed by Neal Israel and written by Dan Gordon. The film stars Ernie Reyes Jr., Rob Schneider, Nicolas Cowan and Leslie Nielsen. ''Surf Ninjas'' follows two teenage ...
'' (1993) *'' Blue Juice'' (1995) *'' In God's Hands'' (1998) *''
Blue Crush ''Blue Crush'' is a 2002 sports film directed by John Stockwell and based on Susan Orlean's 1998 ''Outside'' magazine article "Life's Swell". It stars Kate Bosworth, Michelle Rodriguez, Sanoe Lake and Mika Boorem. The film tells the story ...
'' (2002) *'' Local Boys'' (2002) *''
Lords Of Dogtown ''Lords of Dogtown'' is a 2005 American biographical drama film directed by Catherine Hardwicke and written by Stacy Peralta. The film follows a group of young skateboarders in Santa Monica, California during the 70s. This is the first (and so ...
'' (2005) *'' Surf's Up'' (2007) *'' Soul Surfer'' (2011) *'' Blue Crush 2'' (2011) *''
Chasing Mavericks ''Chasing Mavericks'' is a 2012 American biographical drama film about the life of American surfer Jay Moriarity (portrayed by Jonny Weston). It was directed by Curtis Hanson and Michael Apted, and stars Gerard Butler, Elisabeth Shue, Abiga ...
'' (2012) *'' Drift (film)'' (2013) *''
Point Break ''Point Break'' is a 1991 American action crime film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by W. Peter Iliff. It stars Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey. The film's title refers to the surfing term " point break", wher ...
'' (2015) *'' Surf's Up 2: WaveMania'' (2017)


See also

*
Ski film A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...


Sources

* Booth, Douglas (1996) "Surfing Films and Videos: Adolescent Fun, Alternative Lifestyle, Adventure Industry" ''Journal of Sport History'' * Thoms, Albie (2000) ''Surfmovies: The History of the Surf Film in Australia'' * Lisanti, Tom (2005) ''Hollywood Surf And Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969'' * Warshaw, Matt (2005) ''Surf Movie Tonite!: Surf Movie Poster Art, 1957-2004'' San Francisco: Chronicle Books * Williams, Randy (2006) ''Sports Cinema 100 Movies: The Best of Hollywood's Athletic Heroes, Losers, Myths, and Misfits'' Limelight Editions pg 134-136 * Chidester, Brian; Priore, Domenic; Zuckerman, Kathy (2008
''Pop Surf Culture: Music, Design, Film, and Fashion from the Bohemian surf boom''
Santa Monica Press Chapter 7 * Ormrod & Wheaton (2009) ''On the edge: leisure, consumption and the representation of adventure sports'' Leisure Studies Association Issue 104: 17-25 * Engle, John (2015
''Surfing in the Movies: A Critical History''
McFarland * JONES, DAVIS (2017
“History Of Surfing: Bud Browne Goes To The Movies”
''Surfer'' * MacGillivray, Greg (2019
“The evolution of the surf film”
''Surfer Today''


References


External links


Surf Film Filmography
at montjuichboards.com
Surf Movies .org1920’s film clip
at University of Hawaii {{Authority control Film genres Film