Enter a world of magic and mystery, in my own head, where surfing and snowboarding are considered real jobs! Amazing feats of daring and skill are performed every day - and that's just getting the footage onto film!
Media anarchist, film guru, surf addict and web video blogger!
Busy show this week with December upon us and the storm of events hitting. First up were the Downhill Skaters with Justin and Gabi from SAGRA, to talk about this weekend's, Hot Heels Africa, event. Celebrating 10 years, this is our only World Cup event and will see 4 of the World's best battling for the World Title at the final event of the year. It was great to have international stars, Tamara Prader and Patrick Switzer in studio.
Next up was our man of the surf forecast, Spike, from Wavescape. This week the iconic Wavescape Film Festival begins, with films showing at the Brass Bell, The Labia and of course the viewing on Clifton beach this Saturday evening. Wednesday is the Surfboard Art auction and this is well worth attending.
Next week will be very surf orientated with an ASP Judge, Andy Davis from Mahala and hopefully some skype calls from Cali and Hawaii.
With the build up to the Rolling Retro event this coming Saturday, I had Cheo Kraak, RVCA SA, Robby McDonald, Vudu Surf, Chad Du Toit and Jordy Smith on the show. We covered the Retro Surf comp, the North Shore season just passed, the upcoming 2012 ASP Surf Tour and the state of South African surfing. Had a good time, much red wine and beer was consumed and there were a couple of good laughs! Spike from Wavescape came along and gave us the green light with a good forecast for small waves and good weather.
The Wavescape Film Festival kicked off last Friday with their annual films on the beach. It was a tad windy, but nothing to bad and those that sat it out enjoyed 2 great films.
Since then, I have managed to go see the "Africa Project" at the Brass Bell, which was amazing and I have the premier of "Surfers and Sharks" tomorrow evening at the Labia. This is a film I am especially keen to see as it stars my good mate, Roosta, and was co-produced by Chris Mason from Wavescape. Here is the trailer...
Films I have watched so far and highly recommend are:
The Africa Project - The Labia, 20h30, Mon 19th Dec
Jason Hearn has worked on this film for 4 long years, but the wait was worth it. The film takes you on a gorgeous and riveting trip around Africa, showing off the various cultures, beaches and of course waves. The profiles on Franky Oberholzer and Twig are epic and the surfing from Royden Bryson, Jordy and Roosta are of world class quality! If nothing else, this film will inspire you to travel on your own continent for waves!
Splinters - The Labia, 18h15, Sat 17 Dec
I saw the trailer for this a couple of months ago online. It was a heavy thing to watch such a culture in action. The people of these remote villages in Papa New Guinea live on a totally different plane of existence to the one we live on. Woman are treated like possessions and you see some pretty brutal treatment of them through the film. These people live in a totally 3rd world existence, with no money, no infrastructure and no respect for human life! They do have waves though and a culture that has been riding waves for hundreds of years. When an Ozzy pilot leaves his surfboard behind, he begins a story that led to this film being made. It is harsh, it is beautiful and it shows how surfing can change the lives of anyone who gets to try their hand at it. Well worth a watch!
Art of Flight - The Labia, 18h15, Thurs 15th Dec
The movie that will change how Action Sports films are made from now on. Travis Rice and his mad bunch of mates travel the world with all their gear, snowmobiles, helicopters and the best slow-motion cams in the world to create a truly mind blowing cinematic experience. I cannot recommend this one enough! It also shows before the Premier of "Surfing and Sharks".
Year Zero - The Labia, 20h30, Sat 17 Dec
The first of the "Traditional" style surf movies, its actually quite different from the norm. Globe have taken their rather impressive surf team and created a "Mad Max" style world for them to travel around in and surf. The level uf surfing is amazing, especially from the likes of CJ Hobgood and Taj Burrows. Look out for the mutant right tube they surf, it is simply mental! The best part of the film though, was the music! Black Mountain, who I had never heard of before, did the entire soundtrack and its a winner!
Come Hell or High Water - The Labia, 20h30, Sun 18 Dec
As a surfer it is important to know your roots. We all started in the water, without a board, just catching waves and body surfing. This film takes you into the world of those who kept body surfing, instead of moving on like the rest of us. It is beautifully shot and some of the wave riding is truly inspiring. Look out for the monster Wedge section for a little pain and laughter. I felt really good after watching this movie and pretty amped to don my fins again and go charge some shore break!
Life Cycles - The Labia, 18h15, Fri 16th Dec
So no, this is not a surf film, but I still highly recommend you go and see it. This is truly one of the most amazing cinematic films shot in the Action Sport genre and to be able to watch it on the big screen will be amazing! It has become a cult movie in mountain biking for a reason. using new cable tracking systems, super slow-motion and great on board footage, this movie a surreal look into the world of the MTB rider.
For more information on the Wavescape Film festival, go HERE
Another week and another amazing show. Even set a record last night with 6 guests over the 2 hours. The first segment of the show I had Chris Mason and Spike from Wavescape to talk about their Film Festival that begins this week. They were joined by Roosta, who is the star of one of the movies premiering at the Festival, Surfing and Sharks.
The second segment I had the Downhill Skate crew in to talk about this weekend's World Cup event at Rooi Els, Hot Heels Africa. Justin Boast, of SAGRA, Mischo the 2x Defending champion and Gabby, one of SA's new lady chargers, were on the show.
It is that time of the year again, when the Wavescape Film festival hits Cape Town, starting with their awesome cinema night on Clifton Beach. Every year the Festival shows the best and latest in surfing cinema, with both traditional surf films for amping you up, as well as hard hitting documentaries and short films. I will be previewing some of the movies over the next few weeks and you can win tickets (See below) to the Festival to come watch the movies you want to see.
WIN TICKETS:
In order to win tickets to the Wavescape Film Festival, to watch movies at either the Labia Cinema or the Brass Bell in Kalk Bay, simply leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite surf film of all time and why it is your favorite. You can also get active on Twitter, just tweet the above to myself @KapteinKai and @WavescapeSA and you can also win. I have 5 sets of tickets to give away, so tell your friends about it, or just post this blog on your FB or Twitter. I will announce the winners on my radio show on Monday 12th December, 8-10pm, on www.2ov.fm
Film Festival on the Radio:
Tune in to Captain Kai's World on 2 Oceans Vibe Radio on Monday to listen to the guys from Wavescape talk about the Festival, as well as Roosta and Chris Mason talk about their new documentary, Sharks and Surfing, which is featuring at the Festival.
Date: Monday 5th December
Time: 8pm
On: www.2ov.fm
Some people might wonder what the hell I am talking about here? There are more surfers than ever in SA, the shops do alright, surf lessons are booming and all in all everyone wants to be a surfer. This in itself might be the problem. The growing popularity of our lifestyle is bringing more and more people into the lineup, but at the same time these new surfers are not being groomed and taught by the older more experienced surfers in the lineup. They are not being taught the basics, the guy on your inside has priority, don't paddle around someone on your outside, if you are a kook stay away from the main peak with your mini-Malibu until you have learn't how to actually make the drop on a fast 4ft wave. Remember this point as I move on...
Want more of this?
Professional surfing in SA is on a one way ticket to the grave! I hear the choruses of, "Thats rubbish!" wafting out like the pong from the sewerage factory on the N2 as I drive by, but unfortunately my point is valid. Yes, we have Jordy Smith, the world number 2, but what comes after? We only have 3 other surfers in the World Tour top 100, Travis Logie, Lord Royden Bryson, Brandon Jackson and Dale Staples, who gets a prime seading thanks to his 3rd place in the 2010 Junior rankings. Four guys out of 100 of the top surfers in the world, is that really how good we are? The new ASP system is also designed to make it harder for surfers to crack the WCT field, so how long will it be before Jordy has support on the premier tour?
No reason this cant be a local club contest!
How do we go about changing this status quo? Logic says that like the Brazilians, Australians and Americans, who dominate the world tour, we need strong local junior tours and a very strong local tour for our surfers to learn how to compete on the world tour. We need our guys and girls to surf competitive heats as much as possible, we need them to earn money for their accomplishments and we need them to be sponsored properly so that they can afford to actually go out there and attack the world tour. Unfortunately, our local surf tour, the PST, has pretty much ceased to exist. Of the 3 major WQS competitions we had in South Africa, only one remains and we have one WCT in Jbay. This leaves South African surfers with woefully little opportunity to gain experience, points and prize money to gain enough leverage to get on tour. Our local surf brands simply don't have the money to support multiple campaigns and we desperately need to gain more corporate support for the sport. Where does this leave us?
South African surfing needs an overhaul. My solution is simple, we need to start at the bottom and work our way up. First step to getting SA surfing back on track is the rebirth of club surfing in our country. Why are the Australians dominating world surfing? Because they have the strongest Club system on the planet and this rolls through to the provincial, national and professional tours. Growing up in the Eastern Cape we had a couple of surf clubs we could join and this was the same for all the major surfing towns. I got taught by the older guys, I got abused as a grommet, earned my spot in the local line up and had a really good time throughout. Our surf history is peppered with great stories, moments and events from the inter club rivalries of the seventies and eighties. Our greatest surfers such as Sean Thompson, Martin Potter and many more grew up in the club scenes of their day. This is where they learnt to surf (Take note of the first paragraph of this commentary), grew their competitive strategies, were supported by the fellow club members and ultimately found their stride as professional surfers.
The groms need surf clubs!
This is not just a statement on my part. Myself and a couple of other concerned surfers, namely Robby MacDonald, Dutchie and our local surfers have started the process. This past Saturday we had the first West Coast Boardriders versus Llandudno Surf Club competition. Eight guys from each club surfed in heats till Royden, representing Llandudno, eventually won, with the West Coast guys taking the club win. Everyone who came had fun, everyone who came wants to do it again. The process has started. Tasha Mentasti, from Surfing SA, was there representing and backed up my feelings on this matter - without club surfing, SA professional surfing will die.
Dutchie and the boys from the West have started their club.
So here is my challenge to you all, as surfers, parents of surfers and marketing directors of brands in and out of surfing. Get together with your mates at your local beach, form a club, get hold of Tasha (Surfing South Africa) and get your local club off the ground. If you are a member of a current club that is still running, register with SSA. if you have a brand that benefits from surfing in any way, get behind your local guys and support club surfing. The goal? To create a strong and enjoyable club surfing culture in South Africa, supporting grass roots surfing and development. We can make surfing competitions fun again, while strengthening our representation in World Surfing. Get this off of the ground and I promise Llandudno Surf Club will host the reborn SA Club Surfing Champs in 2012. I guarantee it. I will make it happen if I have to spill blood to make it happen. Get involved and we can not only save surfing in SA, but we can make it better!
