Aotearoa Surf Film Festival highlights local film
The 11th annual Aotearoa Surf Film Festival took place in Queenstown and Wanaka last week. The event celebrated the best of surf culture and cinema, as well as connections to the environment. A curated selection of local and international surf feature films, documentaries and short films were showcased, and one in particular showed off some of what our region has to offer.
Absent Without Leave was directed by Kiwi, Fin Woods, and includes some highly-regarded surfers, who came to do a tour around South Westland. The surfers featured included Harrison Roach, Nate Zoller and Parker Coffin.
They jumped in two old Land Rovers, packed up a few motorbikes and headed out to explore Otago and the West Coast for two weeks. They visited Purakanui Bay and met Blair, a pilot and surfer who took them on a bush plane to a secluded beach. They soon hit our beautiful district.
Our stunning mountain-scape is on display as the team ride motorbikes and camp in a remote area. Next up was the Hawea River Wave – a favourite among locals and a bit more of a unique surfing experience. The purpose-built whitewater park is at Camphill Bridge and features two different waves – the smaller wave is bouncy and soft, which is super fun on shorter boards and it’s easier to perform spins and tricks. The bottom wave is bigger, steeper and has more power – it’s recommended for more experienced riders.
Matthew McClurg is the tour manager for Aotearoa Surf Film Festival; he says that there is a strong surf culture in Queenstown and Wanaka, which is why they wanted to bring the tour here despite our lack of ocean.
“There are so many people here that still have an interest, particularly in the outdoors and surfing,” says Matthew.
“I think surfing, skiing and snowboarding all go pretty well together. I live in Dunedin and we spend most of our winter weekends in Wanaka skiing and I know that many people from Wanaka do the same with Dunedin to get surf. I guess they cross over pretty well and it’s cool to be able to go to places that appreciate a different kind of event as well. I think sometimes you get all the mountain-related stuff and then maybe not so much of other things.”
Submissions for next year’s Aotearoa Surf Film Festival open in Winter 2023, around mid-year. Matthew would love to see some more Kiwi film submissions.
“The more Kiwi films we get submitted, the more it actually does become Aotearoa’s surf film festival. It’s great to tour the country and see all the places that put these films on. Our goal is to make it predominately New Zealand films, and we need people to be making films to make that happen,” says Matthew.
A panel of four judges will decide this year’s winning film, which will be announced at the final stop of the tour in Auckland. The winning filmmaker will score a camera package from Canon valued at $5,000. Absent Without Leave is currently streaming on Facebook. If you’d like to stay up to date with the festival and winner, head to asff.co.nz
