film Archives - New Zealand Surf Journal

Watch: Desert Dogs

Derek MorrisonAug 15, 2024August 15, 20240

Desert Dogs is a new film by George Syme and Tommy Butland. It follows their journey on a self-funded surf trip to the edge of the desert and beyond. The pairing of George and Tom in this collaborative surfer-filmmaker style is breaking new ground for New Zealand surf filmmaking. In...

Film Review: The War On Style

Taira BlakelyAug 5, 2024August 5, 20240

Like it or not, we are living in a world that has waged a war on style. Hank Bilous is deep in the thick of it, aiming to strike the right balance between technical skill and self expression. The professional freeskier, turned surfer, turned nurse explores and challenges these dynamics...

Watch: Place Of Thorns

Derek MorrisonAug 1, 20240

Place of Thorns tells the story of one of the world’s most incredible waves, Puerto Escondido, from its discovery by early surfers when it was just a small coffee port in Mexico, to the bustling tourist Mecca it has become today. After five decades, Puerto continues to draw surfers from...

Watch: The Impossible Wave

Taira BlakelyJul 19, 2024July 25, 20240

Thirty years ago, ISA president Fernando Aguerre dreamed that surfing might one day be included in the Olympic Games. No one could have predicted how challenging that pursuit would be. The Impossible Wave follows Fernando Aguerre’s improbable mission to push surfing into the Olympic spotlight. After 27 years and 12,000 hours...

Film Review: The Yin & Yang Of Gerry Lopez

Isaac ChadwickNov 15, 2022November 15, 20220

Combining the talents of filmmaker Stacy Peralta, with the inimitable Gerry Lopez is a recipe for success. The Yin & Yang of Gerry Lopez explores the life of one of the most influential surfers and surfboard shapers of all time. Gerry is presented as an entrepreneur, a family man, a...

Win A GoPro HERO10!

Derek MorrisonNov 15, 2021December 5, 20220

We’ve teamed up with GoPro and Barton Lynch’s BL Blast Off and have a brand new GoPro HERO10 to giveaway to a New Zealand surfer. We’re calling for all aspiring young filmmakers and grommets out there to work together and load up a small (up to 60-second) edit to the...

Watch: Goddesses

Derek MorrisonNov 10, 2021November 10, 20210

Acclaimed filmmaker Morgan Maassen brings us his latest film, Goddesses, which explores the lives of three young Tahitian girls: Vahine, Heimiti and Kohai Fierro. Set in their home against a dramatic backdrop of Tahiti’s jungle, mountains and reefbreaks, this film is as mesmerizing as it is soulful. “My obsession with...

Bask: Volume II

Derek MorrisonNov 9, 2021November 9, 20210

Filmed over the nine months of the university year in Ōtepoti Dunedin, the Bask series returns with a vengeance. Filmmaker Isaac Chadwick has turned up the dial on the party and surf elements of Dunedin’s student surfer lifestyle. It’s clear early on that twice the blood sweat and beers have...

Choice: The Movie

Derek MorrisonAug 31, 2021August 31, 20210

Choice is a short film that takes you on a journey through the wilderness of New Zealand in search of perfect waves. Along the way filmmaker Jean Pierre Guillotin explores the stunning scenery and landscapes that define New Zealand. “This was my first short film,” explains photographer Jean Pierre. “It...

Breaking Eggs With Filmmaker Isaac Chadwick

Derek MorrisonAug 23, 2021August 23, 20210

The intake of students at the University of Otago is thick with talented surfers who have had their OE wings clipped by Covid-19. One of them, 20-year-old Isaac Chadwick, has been filming and documenting his mates surfing, the student lifestyle and their rise in the music scene since he arrived....