Gone Surfin'
Searching for Michael Peterson
We celebrate all things fun in the sun this summer with a series of Australian surf films.
Kicking off the mini-retrospective of 'surf on celluloid' is the 1978 film Crystal Voyager. It chronicles American surfer-cameraman George Greenhough's quest to ride the perfect wave and his efforts to build a camera that can film it. From the waves of California to Byron Bay, the film builds to the final, famous 23-minute "Echoes" sequence, comprised of footage that allows the viewer to experience the ocean as never before - all set to the music of Pink Floyd.
Bruce Beresford's Puberty Blues (1981) is a coming-of-age drama about two Australian girls, Debbie (Nell Schofield) and Sue (Sue Knight), and what happens when they become the girlfriends of two surfer guys. Set around the beaches of Cronulla, Puberty Blues taps into a very Australian obsession and identification with beach and surf culture.
Searching for Michael Peterson (2008) is a surfing documentary that plunges below the surface to find out what happened to 1970s surfing legend Michael Peterson. Director Jolyon Hoff talks to surfing identities, including Alby Falzon, Wayne Lynch, Wayne 'Rabbit' Bartholomew and Nat Young (amongst many others) in an effort to unravel the surfing phenomenon who achieved success whilst suffering undiagnosed schizophrenia.
After their breakout film, Surfing 50 States (2008), Australian filmmakers Stefan Hunt and Jonno Durrant turn their attention to Australian couple Pam and Alan Skuse who run a children's home in Tapachula, Mexico. Somewhere Near Tapachula (2009) is a documentary that looks at the horrific childhoods of 45 kids, their new life at Mision Mexico, and the unique surf community that they have pioneered in Tapachula, a coastal city with no other wave riders. A fiesta will follow after the screening on Saturday 27 March in the ACMI Lounge.
All sessions $8. For more information, click here.
Published Monday, 1 February 2010
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