SHREDDING: A NEW LENS IN SURF FILMMAKING Shorts Program!

This program is part of 7th House's EndThis Summer Surf Film Fest and is included in the discounted daypass for all three programs.

As part of their surf film festival EndThis Summer, 7th House is proud to present an exciting assemblage of contemporary shorts that exemplify how the genre is expanding and progressing to tell new stories that have been underrepresented (if represented at all) in surf filmmaking. Curated by animator/filmmaker Zachary Zezima, this very special program will be followed by a Q&A with filmmakers!

SHREDDING is a short surf film program that invites both lifelong diehards and the uninitiated alike to re-examine how surfing is culturally framed. Within the context of the sport, the term “shredding” has had difficulty escaping its mocking association with a certain archetypal image of the surfer, caricatures like Jeff Spicoli, Bodhi, Zack Morris, etc. Rather than merely decrying this apparent lack of representation, SHREDDING affirmatively undermines those cumbersome and outdated stereotypes by sharing the experiences of those whose very presence on a board redefines the discourse. Through contemporary lenses from as far afield as Morocco to up and down the California coast, we get to see how people are expanding the surf space today. Myriad perspectives, uniquely shaped by similar challenges: feeling seen, gaining access, and eventually, changing that archetypal image of what a surfer looks like.

Each film incrementally opens up that much more space for someone new to try, welcoming their identity and interpretation into the surfing lexicon, with others then feeling welcome to follow suit. After SHREDDING, it seems irrefutable that surfing really is for everyone. Any time or place they can get to the beach, the rhythmic beat of the waves will be there waiting. Going deeper still, what remains after the shredding of this homogenous cultural image is a shifted focus to what’s actually most important: how surfing makes you feel. The implicit lesson being that, in spite of differences about who that surfer is and where they come from, or their respective struggles at getting there, the joy experienced upon arriving at any place where the waves break seems almost universal. A kindred calling to the water, a sense of freedom, a transcendental escape from temporality, a feeling of clarity, a communing with nature. What Shredding says most emphatically is that surfing is love.

PROGRAM

Feat. vintage interstitial animations by legendary animator Arne JinAn Wong!

• Eternal Sea by Arne JinAn Wong

• On the Water I Disappear by Rabbi Chel Mandell and Lo Frentz

Often, religion and spirituality exist in a realm separate from surfing. Rabbi Chel Mandell, a gender-expansive trans surfer and rabbi, traces the tender intersections of these seemingly opposing identities through vulnerable storytelling of their experiences on the water. They offer reflections filled with nuance, complexity, and love. The visuals unfold along their home coastline in Northern California, on the unceded territory of the Awaswas-speaking Uypi tribe.

• Amazigh by Serra Soyupak

A young Amazigh woman breaks free from tradition to chase her dream of surfing, telling her powerful story in her native Tamazight.

• Tube Rider by Arne JinAn Wong

• Gender Outlaw by Peter Williams

Gender Outlaw, a bodysurfing story, is a documentary that navigates the tumultuous waters that Tyler Wilde, a transgender bodysurfer and teacher has had to move through as he searched for big surf, his true self and his chosen family.

• Karma by Arne JinAn Wong

• WIPEOUTS by Nesrine Majzoub

WIPEOUTS is about collective power and community for BIPOC girls, women, and gender-expansive people who surf. Inspired by a sentiment heard at programs lead by Oakland organization, Salted Roots, WIPEOUTS is about creating space for one another to fall, taking up space in the ocean, and building community in an otherwise white-male-dominated sport.

• The Inevitable Return by Zachary Zezima

An exploration of how military technology and atomic testing became entangled in contemporary surfing amongst the militarized beaches of the San Diego area. Using vérité footage and animation, the film follows Shuuluk, a Kumeyaay surfer, who interacts daily with the resulting effects and complexities of occupation on his land and in his sport, and reclaims it as a practice of joy, play, and connection.

• When I Look at the Ocean I Want to Cry by Yusuf Demirörs

A moving diary and surf film captured on Super 8 film that details the experiences of the filmmaker at a QueerSurf camp organized in Northern California.

Total Runtime 1h 22mins.

Tickets: $10 (In Person Event Only)

Also included in the $24 Three Program Daypass—Available Here

Please email events@prs.org or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.

ABOUT THE CURATOR

Zachary Zezima is an animation director based in Los Angeles. He received his BFA from Parsons The New School for Design and his MFA from California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). His work frequently includes elements of psychology, the body, interpersonal relationships, science-fiction, and autobiography.

Beginning as an illustrator, his work has appeared in The New York Times, on the cover of American Illustration 31, and he was nominated for an Ignatz Award in 2013. Moving into animation in 2014, his first short film CRUISING was nominated for the Golden Dove Award at DOK Leipzig and won Honorable Mention from the Adobe Design Achievement Awards as well as Best Experimental Film at Animation Block Party.

His subsequent short film entitled It’s a Date was released in 2016 and screened at film festivals such as Sundance, Pictoplasma, Ars Electronica, and Animafest Zagreb, and was a Vimeo Staff Pick Premiere. His most recent short film, Friend of a Friend, premiered at Annecy in 2020 and has also screened at film festivals such as Slamdance, Stuttgart, and Guanajuato. It was nominated for a UniFrance Short Film Award, won the Special Jury Award at the Anilogue International Animation Festival, and Best International Short Animated Film at the Oscar/BAFTA-qualifying Go Short International Short Film Festival.

Shifting into documentaries, in 2021 he directed animation for an episode of PRIDE; a six-part docuseries on FX/Hulu detailing LGBTQ+ civil rights throughout six distinct decades. He is currently in production on a new documentary exploring the history of the US Military’s influence on surfing and surf culture.

Zack is also an Associate Professor of Animation in the Department of Art at California State University, Los Angeles.

ADVISORY DISCLAIMER

With some exception, The Philosophical Research Society’s 7th House Screenings does not typically provide advisory warnings about potentially upsetting content or subject matter, as sensitivities are particular to each viewer. Please be sure to read event listings, research on the web, or visit Common Sense Media, IMDb, and DoesTheDogDie.com for thorough info on content and age-appropriateness. If you have any specific content advisory questions, please email events@prs.org.

CONTENT DISCLAIMER

The views, opinions, and thoughts expressed within exhibited works are solely those of their creators and may not represent those of the Philosophical Research Society (PRS), its affiliates, or any individuals associated with PRS. Screenings are intended for educational and entertainment purposes.

ACCESSIBILITY

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REFUND POLICIES

All sales are final. There are no refunds for PRS events , except in the event of a medical emergency, including but not limited to a positive COVID-19 test. Ticket exchanges may be granted on a case by case basis, pending circumstances.

In the event that PRS is forced to cancel an event entirely, tickets will be refunded or vouchers offered for a rescheduled event.

PARKING

Limited parking is available onsite at PRS in both the front lot (entry from Los Feliz Blvd. when heading east) and back lot (entry from first alley way, off Griffith Park Blvd. from intersection with Los Feliz Blvd.), as well as street parking on Griffith Park Blvd. and (after 7 PM) on Los Feliz Blvd. We encourage attendees to consider carpooling, walking or biking to events if possible, and please be considerate of our Los Feliz neighbors when parking.

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