Wavescape Film Night
A special screening of the Wavescape Surf and Ocean Festival will pay homage to the people and places of Africa, with emphasis on Cape Town, at the Galileo Outdoor Cinema in early March.
Wavescape Film Night will host three films - Changing Temps, Where we Thrive and The Source - under the stars at the Galileo at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens on Friday 7 March. The beautifully crafted mini-biopic Changing Tempo tells the story of sensational Cape Town surfer Mikey February that will appeal to surfers and non-surfers as it follows Mikey around Africa in the years after he turned away from the professional tour to become a free surfer.
Comprising carefully curated vignettes of his life, the 15 minute film captures Mikey’s incredible virtuosity as a surfer and a human, while he interacts with the flavours and cultures of the Wild Coast, Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal, Mozambique and Angola. There's some indigenous lore, some incredible locations, and plenty of dancing, only this is ballet on moving liquid as he experiments with surfboard shapes such as bonzers, twin fins, and thrusters.
The next film Where We Thrive is a 34 minute profile of the Deep South of Cape Town, in particular Kommetjie. From the opening line holy macaroni cheese balls! to the closing credits of this community-driven tribute to the village of Kommetjie, we see how a rural backwater "too far" away, has become a surf mecca. Narrated by endurance runner Ryan Sandes, this adventure documentary is a non-pretentious unearthing of the small town gem of the "Kom", the birth of big wave surfing in South Africa and the adventure potential of our rugged peninsula.
Surrounded on three sides by the mighty Atlantic Ocean and 4000 miles of storm-ridden sea, the Kom has nurtured generations of hardcore ocean lovers and mountaineers. But more than that, the film is quintessentially an ode to Cape Town, as seen through the lens of trail running, surfing, ocean diving, and paragliding. Whatever your reason for enjoying the wild, vast open spaces of the Mother City, there is a communality that binds us all together, set to evocative music, intimate interviews and a dose of all things salty.
The evening culminates in The Source (32 minutes), which has been called one of the best travelogues ever made. Utilising incredible cinematography and gorgeous music, it depicts professional surfer Koa Smith’s trip from Hawaii to South Africa to make a surf movie. As an “influencer” relentlessly seeking perpetual adrenaline highs for a living, South Africa gives him something he least expects – a profoundly human experience about the need to slow down.
An encounter with a special member of the Deep South community puts him on a path of connection, nature and introspection. His ‘surf movie’ instead becomes a transformative journey that showcases the power of simplicity. Something we could all do with in these troubled times.
Join us for an evening under the stars. Get your tickets HERE
