"'The waves are best in the winter, when there's a bigger swell but you can come out with icicles hanging off your face,' says British documentarian Tom Elliott. 'We shot the film in December and January, when guys go in wearing 5mm-6mm thick neoprene suits, hoods, gloves and boots.' It's a long way from the beaches of Hawaii, California and Australia to the icy coastline of England's industrial North East. Better known for steel mills and chemical refineries than surfboards and Ambre Solaire, its cities seem an unlikely place to find men who live to ride the perfect wave. But it's here beside the goods-yards and the chimneys that filmmaking team Tom Elliott and Simon Reichel — known as A Common Future — have made a compelling discovery: the smokestack surfer dude. Driving past the port of Middlesborough one day, Reichel was reminded of a friend who had studied there but said he spent his whole time surfing. The coastline was a bleak mass of heavy machinery – could this really be the place? ..."
NOWNESS (Video)
