The 5^th Barcelona Surf Film Festival- Between Live Swells

The Barcelona surf film festival kindly invited us at the Start of July to introduce needessentials and our Wetsuits, jackets and Board Shorts to the people and surfers of Barcelona.

Surf Film Festival

The BCNSFF  is in its Fifth Year and has been well attended since its inception in 2012 (1,500 plus people in attendance yearly). For 2017 it was held over three nights in the beautiful grounds of the Museu Maritim De Barcelona (mmb), hosting relevant talks, live music and 3 of the latest Surf releases every evening. Full details of the 2017 Barcelona Surf Film Festival here.

ZERO WASTE EVENT

The event was staged and managed by a tight group of friends who have been passionate surfers along the Catalonia coast for years and wanted to share and unite their passion for surf with their local community and be inclusive to all not just a select few. Headed by Xavi, Gerard and Veronica, the event completely embraced and epitomised what we all hope to gain from surfing, a love for the ocean no matter its size or prominent swell direction, friendship and most importantly fun. The event as before was a success for all involved and a lot of fun and work…. For the first time the Barcelona Surf Film Festival  was also a “ZERO WASTE EVENT” and it was incredible to see that this can be achieved for all but a tiny bit of extra work and some forward planning. For further info on this event sustainability visit BCNSFF17 partners, reBueno, a new start-up focused on organizing sustainable waste free events.

needessentials Wetsuits and Board Shorts displayed at the BCN Surf Film Festival

needessentials and the BCN Surf Film Festival

A further part to the BCNSFF was a small area in which new and emerging companies can introduce and meet the local surfers and enjoy our common interests. As a young company and because any excuse for a new experience and short break is embraced, we welcomed the invite and were stoked on the acceptance we received and the new friends that we made. Our neighbours for the event were great, and it was lovely to be introduced to companies like Skateboards by nadayabarcelona, and vinipatch instant surf repair kit both born from the Barca scene.

The local surfers and shapers are equally as passionate as those we have met anywhere in the World and the fact that many travel the 5/6hrs across the Country to regularly visit the Basque Country for a Surf was inspiring and a sign of true commitment. Local board Shapers like Sergi from Flama were great to talk to about the intricacies of the swell directions and local surf and it was amazing to see the boards he produces- hand crated wooden boards of all shapes and sizes that only require oil and varnish to be finished!- check his work at flamasurf.com.

As experienced World over, local Surf means tools are dropped, work rescheduled and water time maximised. Although like with most short fetch sea’s, the swells are short lived and you really have to drop everything if you would like to get wet. The title of the 5^th BSFF “Live Between Swells” really fits!!

Surfing in Barcelona image Courtsey of barcelonawaves.com[/caption]

 

The Surf Films- that’s why we were really here!

Of the feature films, Fish People by Patagonia (Trailer here.), Proximity (trailer here.) and Given (trailer here.) where the real headliners.

Talyor Steele once again proved with his latest Surf release, that he is still able to capture a precise moment in Surf Culture time, as he did with Momentum, Campaign and Sipping Jet Streams before. Taylors new feature not only captures and references his past work but very much builds on it, blending and merging present day critical surfing neatly with little lifestyle and personal snippets normally lost in edits. The event is then framed in beautiful scenes and artistic visions of our surround that we so often take for granted.

Proximity is a seminal film and purposefully observes and tells the story of the act of surfing being handed over from one generation to the next in a manner that has never really been documented in such a deliberate way and across so many different plains. Through the pairing of Surfers and the encouragement to go search an epic has been created from high season sessions to Surf in the depths of winter.

Kelly Slater to JJF, Rob Machado to Craig Anderson, Shane Dorian to Albee Layer and Dave Rastovich to Steph Gilmore, each represented a slight variance on the act of surfing and how it can be interpreted. No one direction was identified as correct or given more prominence by Taylor but each was shown for what it can offer and where it sits within today’s world- heaving slabs in Scotland, lost days in Snow and more enjoy it we did!

[caption id="attachment_1923" align="alignnone" width="1338"] Proximity, Given and Fish People Surf Films[/caption]

The Film though that struck us was a local Film titled- El Mar Como Terapia or the “The Sea as Therapy” (Trailer Here.)

Although in Spainsh the Short film was easy to understand and created to educate people on the power of the ocean and surf. Mes Que Surf (link here) were the makers of the film and are a non-profit association that were created in 2017 after a trial run in 2016. Their message/film was simple; it was not about the power of the waves, aerial surfing or Soul Searching, but very much how the Ocean and the surf can offer healing and relief to all and even enhance lives.

Mes Que Surf specifically works with and teaches Children of all ages with ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) and other developmental disorders to enjoy the ocean and waves. Their aim and what they captured in their short film was how their buddy system and ability to allow all to access the ocean and surf, can help to improve the concerned children’s day to day living and encourage them to take on the next challenge with the confidence that is born in the surf.

It was also plain to see that everyone involved was having fun and each benefiting from experience (pupil and coach). It was probably in this film that the act of surfing was best represented for what it is a Fun and cleansing, yet a big challenge not matter what your circumstances or ability.

[caption id="attachment_1924" align="alignnone" width="1242"] Mes Que Surf

Thanks once again to all involved in the event and all that visited us and our small stand, we were really stoked on the support shown and the community based in this region, it really cements why we do what we do and choose to make our life surf!