By Julia Bachman, Staff Writer
Paddle on down to the surf film festival, Surfalorus. This year a lineup of fascinating films will be screened, old and new.
The sixth annual Surfalorus Film Festival will take place from Sept. 21-23. Hosted by the Dare County Arts Council, the surf-themed event will include film screenings, art showings, live music and more. Screenings will take place at Jennette’s Pier on Thursday, Dare County Arts Council on Friday and the Outer Banks Brewing Station on Saturday. A variety of films will be shown, from feature length international films to local shorts. Doors open up to the public at 6:30 and showings begin at 7. There is no admission charge.
Surfalorus was originally launched in Wilmington by Cucalorus — a non-competitive independent film festival — but relocated to the Outer Banks in 2015. Dare County Arts Council’s executive director Chris Sawin played a key role in bringing the film festival to the beach.
“In 2015, the Dare County Arts Council reached out and asked them if they would possibly be interested in taking the show on the road and bringing this event to the Outer Banks,” Sawin said. “For two consecutive years, Movie Maker Magazine voted Cucalorus one of the coolest film festivals on planet earth. It was the beginning of a new partnership.”
In past years, the Surfalorus film committee has been made up of only high school graduates. This year, however, Logan Marshall, a senior at Manteo High School, has the honor of being the first Dare County student with a film in the event. Marshall’s film “Limitless” features local surfers Jesse Hines and Nathan Greenlee and will premier at Jennette’s pier on Thursday.
“I am so stoked for the premier because of the amount of work we’ve put into this. The Arts Council came to me in December shortly after I won the OBXCC photo contest and wanted me to make a film for Surfalorus,” Marshall recalled. “It was such an incredible experience and I’m glad I did it because I have found that I really like it and I can’t wait to do more filming.”
In addition to local debut films such as Marshall’s, Surfalorus will include professional surfer Laird Hamilton’s biography film “Take Every Wave.” Directed by Rory Kennedy, the feature length film debuted at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and will also be screened at Jennette’s Pier.
Each screening location will also include a variety of other entertainment. On Friday evening, the Dare County Arts Council will showcase 50 historic longboards. At the Brewing Station, local performance artist Panda Daniels will be fire spinning and local band Nate Sacks and the Life Hacks will perform as well. Sensi Trails will be performing live music at the Jennette’s Pier on Sept. 23 and Surfin’ Spoon will provide refreshments.
“The age group has been pretty broad, but I think this year we will get a lot more students,” Sawin said. “I want people to know that this is a world-class organization that organizes the event. If you’re making a brand new film anywhere in the world, Cucalorus is one of the film festivals on your radar.”
Learn more about Surfalorus at Surfalorus.com.
Junior Julia Bachman can be reached at bachmanju@daretolearn.org.
