History Comes to SA

LOOK FAMILIAR? Dick Metz was a swashbuckling traveller vagabond the girls loved. Photo Metz

This seminal feature documentary, brought to us by Chris Yelland, Garage Films and Madman Films, screens for the first time in Africa at the Green Room in J-Bay on Thursday 14 July (6.30 for 7pam), supported by Vissla. Book here. Proceeds will go to JBay Surf Alliance that works with under-resourced children in the Jeffreys Bay area.

The audience, made up of members of the public and VIPs, will be joined by historical legends led by the inimitable Cheron Kraak for a panel discussion to unpack the film and chat through some of the milestones in the evolution of South African surfing. A second screening takes place at the Green Room on Friday. Book here.

The chat at the Green Room will be hosted by Spike, who said: "We can't wait to host this screening in J-Bay next week about the back story of the Endless Summer, and how a vagabond from Laguna Beach who was hitch-hiking through Africa found his way to Cape Town. Dick Metz not only bumped into the only guy in Cape Town making surfboards, but his meeting with John Whitmore led to the birth of surfing in South Africa, and spawned the most watched feature documentary of all time."

365 DAYS OF THE YEAR? Contrary to the film, Bruces does not cook every day. Photo Metz

Wavescape has partnered with Steve Shooter from the podcast Shredding the Gnar, who will be on hand to shoot video and interview surfing legends, fans, VIPs and any athletes who attend. This promises to be a special evening.

Birth of the Endless Summer: Discover of Cape St. Francis tracks the early days of surfing in early 1960s California, and follows Laguna local Dick Metz, whose head becomes filled with romantic notions of travelling the high seas after reading men's adventure magazines.

This spawned a five-item bucket list to travel the world that included meeting the girls of Tahiti and a trip to Africa to experience "wild game and tribes". A monumental transglobal hitchhike led to his meeting with the doyen of SA surfing John "The Oom" Whitmore via a serenditipous and coincidental twist of fate after he failed to get out at Victorial Falls in the middle of the night (the car was cozy and it was very dark outside).

HANGING OUT: Dick, second from left, with the South Beach beach boys of Durban Photo Bold

Metz found himself in Cape Town two weeks later. Strolling along the shoreline in Sea Point Dick saw a board floating in on the rocks, and Whitmore swam in to fetch it. Dick famously said: "This is the ugliest board I have EVER seen!" to which Whitmore retorted "What do know about making surfboards!?" and Metz said "Not much, but I know a heck of a lot more than you do if you made this sucker!"

A lifelong friendship began, which included Dick falling head over heels with Patty, the sister of Thelma, The most watched feature documentary in historywho was John's wife. Their relationship also eventually brought Clark Foam and Hobie Cats and Morey Boogie boards to South Africa, and crucially, it paved the way for Bruce Brown to come and shoot Endless Summer, which is the most watched feature documentary in history.

It was the beginning of the SA surfing story, and it had a ripple effect all around the world. The film follows a return to South Africa by Metz in 2019 as sprightly a 93-year-old. He returns to some of the places in the story, including of course the fabled Bruce's Beauties of Cape St. Francis, named after the friend he gave the idea for the film to: Bruce Brown.

A full premiere is planned for Cape Town later in the year. Book tickets for the Thursday or Friday screening at the Green Room in J-Bay.