UnsOund Pro 2009 Highlights

The 2009 Unsound Pro finished up on Sunday afternoon in an
increasing SE swell provided by an approaching cold front. The surf
on the final day of competition slowly grew throughout the day,
culminating in waist to shoulder high waves at Lincoln Blvd., in Long Beach, NY.
While the surf did not quite match the quality of the past few years,
it was big enough to provide the local community with some exciting
surfing action. Read more

NY SURF FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY JETBLUE AIRWAYS & THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 2009 AWARDS

With three days of sold out screenings, over 3,500 people in attendance and numerous premieres and parties, the 2nd annual New York Surf Film Festival (NYSFF) wrapped up on Sunday with an Awards Ceremony and after party at Red Bull Space.

The 2009 NYSFF, held September 25TH-27TH, featured an unprecedented arrangement of 36 films from around the world, intimate Q&A sessions with the filmmakers and lively parties with libations courtesy of Wild Rock Wine and Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer.

At the awards ceremony, festival co-founder Tyler Breuer acted as the emcee presenting the winner in The Best Feature Film category to “Sea of Darkness”, directed by Michael Oblowitz, a modern day pirate tale portraying the ship Indies Trader and the men who sailed it.

Special recognition was also given in The Best Short Film category, awarding director Joshua Berry for “All Points South”, a film about how surfers and fisherman in Southern Chile are joining forces to fight against the rampant pollution from the pulp industry.

The esteemed Viewers Choice Award For Best Feature Presented by Jet Blue and The Dominican Republic deservingly went to “Out of Place”, directed by Scott Ditzenberger. “Out of Place” is an insider’s perspective of the small, underground community of Lake Erie surfers in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Viewers Choice Award For Best Short Presented by Jet Blue and The Dominican Republic went to “Runman’s Groms: Lil Ray and his Friends”, Runman’s latest about Lil Ray the grom, other groms, and adults that act like groms.

Other highlights of the weekend included a question and answer session with legendary surfer Rob Machado, live performances by Beau Young, Denny Aaberg and Andrew Kidman and the Brown Birds from Windy Hill, and a photography gallery presented by Tcolla and Jack Brull.

At the Awards Ceremony there was a surfboard raffle to benefit The Surfrider Foundation’s NYC Chapter, Surf Aid, WAVES for Development and Surfers Healing. A surfboard was shaped for each cause by local and Californian shapers Josh Hall of Josh Hall Surfboards, Mike Becker of Nature Shapes, Mark Petrocelli of Faktion Surfboards, and Joey “Clams” Falcone of Grey Ghost Surfboards. The NYSFF happily accepted a generous donation from the George C Fund to support these charities.

2009 Festival T-shirts are still available for purchase online @ www.okoto.com. A portion of net proceeds from the sale of these shirts goes directly to Surfaid International.

The New York Surf Film Festival brought together avid surfers, legendary surf photographers, film buffs and New York City audiences fascinated by the sport. It was a celebration of both the East Coast surf community but also the artistic integrity of the surf film genre. Be sure to continue to check in at http://www.nysurffilm.com/ for images of the festival and updates on the 2010 installation.

The Art of Hanging Five

Born and raised in Southern California, Chris Cutri has always been drawn to both surfing and the arts. Formally trained with a penchant for Italian films and garage sale thrusters, Chris brings his passion passion to life in “Hanging Five”, following the lives of five artists all connected through the Sea. “Hanging Five” has its East Coast Premiere at the New York Surf Film Festival on Sunday, September 27th at at 6:00PM. Read more

The (Unofficial) New York Surf Week

The unofficial surf week in New York may have officially started yesterday down in New Jersey at the 17th Annual Manasquan Longboard Classic, but it gets back on this side of the river on Wednesday for the start of the 11th Annual Unsound Pro in Long Beach, NY which runs through the week and weekend and overlaps the 2nd Annual NY Surf Film Festival which opens on Friday, September and runs through Sunday, September 27 at Tribeca Cinemas. The waves better show up to the party.

Read more

A Rising Tide – Charity Event: 9/23

Please join us at Bar 13 on Wednesday, September 23, as we celebrate the diverse work of surf-related nonprofits and kick-off the 2nd annual NY Surf Film Festival and Unsound Pro surf competition!

Surfing has inspired many individuals to take action in the areas of film, conservation, sustainability, education, health, and humanitarian aid. This event, in conjunction with the New York Surf Film Festival will bring together representatives from organizations such as WAVES for Development, Best Day Foundation, Stoked Mentoring, Waves of Health, Surfrider, SurfAid, . . And More to Come!

In addition to learning about these organizations and how you can get involved, the event will feature:
*2×1 drinks specials
*Amazing Raffle Prizes
*Meet the Filmmakers Lounge
*Trailers of films from the NY Surf Film Festival

As an added bonus, it will be the NYC premiere of SPECTACULAR ADVENTURES, starring Cory Lopez, Ben Borgious, Gabe Cling, Asher Nolan and more!

All proceeds will go to these amazing organizations! For more information and to purchase tickets:
http://arisingtidecharityparty.eventbrite.com

This Mysterious Character and Incredible Surfer

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!”  - Jack Kerouac

“Searching for Michael Peterson” which opens its US Tour at the NY Surf Film Festival on Friday, September 25th at 8:20pm takes off the rose colored glasses and offers a deeply personal and honest film which explores something of the darker side of the early ’70s Australian surf and social revolutions. Arguably the greatest surfer of his time, MP won virtually every pro surfing contest in Australia from 1972 to 1977 before his mind and body succumbed to heroin and undiagnosed schizophrenia. Read more

You Can’t Get Barreled in Florida

Mark Petrocelli shreds. He’s been traversing the South Shore beaches for the past twenty years, honing his skills at various Central mysto pointy walls and high tide ledges with occasional pit stops in Florida and Indo. He’s a quiet and at times shy dude who is easily found by trouble, like ladies breaking into his apartment and texting lingerie-clad pictures of themselves with white wine while he’s in the city eating pizza or having part of a board bitten off after dropping in on the wrong Long Beach local. Still, you won’t hear him claiming his surfing nor the boards he shapes that others shred. He’ll mention it in passing and will only elaborate if you ask. Read more

A Fresh(water) Perspective

So, you think you’re hardcore because you surf in New York in the winter? Well, think again. Try it in Cleveland, where by mid-December — just as the waves are really getting good — you have to start worrying about pack ice forming in the shorebreak. Where your view from the lineup might include a giant smelter, a pile of coal slag or the crumbling facade of an abandoned factory. And you think we suffer bad flat spells here in New York? A Cleveland surfer might go months (months!) without rideable surf, either because the Lake is frozen or just because it’s a lake. What about short swells? We East Coast types complain about the one tide swell. In Cleveland, they get blink-and-you’ll-miss-it swells. Not “you should have been here yesterday” swells, but “you should have been here ten minutes ago” swells. Read more