Last summer, during an operational hiatus of my full-on assault on every job opening that I could find, I detoured to a Web site about a movie. No idea how I found it, just know it's a byproduct of total consumption with online surfing content. The film, called “Under the Sun,” is a documentary focusing its lens on two dichotomous, but closely linked, regions of eastern Australia: the Goldcoast, a hub of professional surfing commercialism, and Byron Bay, a “hippy Mecca” of free surfers 60 miles south of the Goldie. At the crux: what led to the diverging, often competitive and acrimonious, cultures unique to these two places?
UTS was in post-production when I read about it in August. It premiered on September 11, 2008, in Laguna Beach, CA. Since then, it’s been plugging into the film-festival circuit to energize publicity for its DVD release. Cyrus Sutton, the producer/filmer/editor of the project is self-taught—a self-proclaimed traveling-filming surfer cliché. Scott Bass from Surfer magazine interviewed Sutton for “In the Lineup,” Surfer’s audio and visual podcast a while back. Sutton discusses some of the film’s undertones and what drew him to the story. The trailer is posted below. Sutton interviews some of surfing's most famous ppersonalities, old and new, from former ASP President Rabbit Bartholomew to culture-crosser Dave Rastovich. UTS examines a fascinating area of the surfing world as it offers its take on an old dilemma of the conflicitng archetypes of modern surfing: for money or love, and can there be room enough for both?
For any Central Cal residents, UTS will be featured at the San Luis Obispo Film Festival on March 12th. SLO’s organizers are quick to mention that UTS won “Best Action Sports Film at the Newport Beach Film Festival and Best Independent Film at the Huntington Beach Surf Film Festival in 2008.”
A last quick note: On Saturday, March 14th, the Philadelphia Surf & Snow Film Festival will take place at the Mandell Theater on the campus of Drexel University in University City. (Closer to my hood.) The lineup is varied and includes “One Track Mind,” Chris Malloy’s newest direction released by Woodshed films. Tickets to either viewing session cost $25. The first runs from 2pm-6pm, the second from 7pm-11pm.
Check them out if you can. It's decent entertainment that helps advance the careers of burgeoning action sports filmmakers.
UTS trailer:
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