My friend Ira Opper over at TheSurfNetwork.com is about a cool a guy as you can get. He's a legend for one and has been making surf films for decades.
I've known Ira for 25 years and as a kid he used to let my friend and me hold up cue-cards for Corky Carol when he was making all the Surfer Mag TV shows in the 80's. As a grom that was the highlight of our summer.
Recently we have connected again over The Leucadia Project and he did something that blew me away. He handed over the keys to the candy store. If you have even gone to his site you'll know what I'm talking about. Basically he has about 600 surf titles and he has given me access to ALL OF THEM! Yes, folks I basically will not be sleeping.
Going forward I will be watching these movies and posting what I like. I love it. It's a dream come true!
For this week's movie I picked "Hanging Five" by Christopher Cutri. I hadn't heard very much about it but as I was going through titles it jumped out at me.
It turns out that it is was a really cool movie. It is about 5 surf artists, Andy Davis, Tyler Warren, Julie Goldstein, Alex Knost, and Wolfgang Bloch. All of whom are extremely talented.
As a guy who digs art, creating things, surfing and documentaries I was hooked. Part of my favorite part of the film was watching everyone do their work.
Julie really got me inspired as you can see her wheels turn as she goes into this other dimension. It's like watching her spirit work.
Andy was cool as he is a local guy and I don't know him very well except what I've seen of his art and heard from others. In this film he is really open and is inspiring to watch.
Tyler is such a creative soul as well as an amazing surfer. He builds these worlds in his art that makes me want to stay for awhile.
I've always been attracted to Wolfgang's art even though I didn't know they were from him. He uses found objects and then paints on them. He is also very open in this film and talks about how as an artist sometimes you just don't know where the money is going to come from but it somehow always does. A pretty good lesson of having the faith to believe in yourself and the rest will be taken care of.
Alex is one of those pure creative souls that just lives in the now and just isn't afraid to be him. Photography, music, art, design, surfing, you name it. He is just him. It's brave really. It's inspiring to watch.
All and all I highly recommend it. It's not a surf film in the traditional sense which made it that much more of a find for a documentary junky like myself. If you are a creative soul searching for inspiration or are a working artist you need to watch this. Chances are that you are struggling with your own balance of money and creativity or responsibility and creativity. I found it very helpful to hear their stories and connect the dots in my own life to what they have experienced.
Julie really got me inspired as you can see her wheels turn as she goes into this other dimension. It's like watching her spirit work.
Andy was cool as he is a local guy and I don't know him very well except what I've seen of his art and heard from others. In this film he is really open and is inspiring to watch.
Tyler is such a creative soul as well as an amazing surfer. He builds these worlds in his art that makes me want to stay for awhile.
I've always been attracted to Wolfgang's art even though I didn't know they were from him. He uses found objects and then paints on them. He is also very open in this film and talks about how as an artist sometimes you just don't know where the money is going to come from but it somehow always does. A pretty good lesson of having the faith to believe in yourself and the rest will be taken care of.
Alex is one of those pure creative souls that just lives in the now and just isn't afraid to be him. Photography, music, art, design, surfing, you name it. He is just him. It's brave really. It's inspiring to watch.
All and all I highly recommend it. It's not a surf film in the traditional sense which made it that much more of a find for a documentary junky like myself. If you are a creative soul searching for inspiration or are a working artist you need to watch this. Chances are that you are struggling with your own balance of money and creativity or responsibility and creativity. I found it very helpful to hear their stories and connect the dots in my own life to what they have experienced.
