Ricky Grigg, Peter Cole, Gerry Lopez, Anna Trent Moore, george Downing, and Kimo Hollinger. Photo: Shuzo Uemoto/Courtesy of Honolulu Museum of Art
It’s an awesome festival, and although it takes place in the metropolis of Honolulu, Hawaii, in some ways the Honolulu Surf Film Festival is still a small hidden jewel. The festival is shown in the Honolulu Museum of Art’s Doris Duke Theater, a beautiful historical building where precious works of art by Picasso, Gauguin, and Matisse live. Because the museum is a sanctuary that treasures history, its really quite apropos that you would find a Bud Browne historical surf film showing there. What’s quite extraordinary is that each year, for the past four years, some of the greats of surf history gather quietly as friends, to honor each other and our sport’s legacy. Found at these gatherings have been the giants like George Downing, Peter Cole, Kimo Hollinger, Ricky Grigg and Gerry Lopez. They’ve come to share good company and honor their time, which was unlike any other; all captured in rare films by the father of the surf film genre, Bud Browne. This unique festival has honored the art of surf film making by celebrating the new imbued with the roots of its craft. Within this surprisingly intimate space that holds about a hundred and seventy people, the air is electric with a roster of many firsts in surfing.
This will mark the fifth year that Bud Browne Film Archives will close the festival and as always, we look forward to the gathering. Unfortunately one in the tribe will be missing; the late Ricky Grigg, who passed away on May 21, 2014. Still, he’ll be there all right. Because although he’ll be missing in person, he will be there in film, and we’re all eager to see him. Ricky’s memory will be celebrated on July 27, at 6:00 P.M. with a short tribute film and a dedication of the evening’s film, Cavalcade of Surf, which by the way, totally features him. And his people will gather as always to quietly celebrate our sport in a sanctuary that is a keeper of great things. And surfing really is a great thing. What better place to share the essence of surfing and its people than at one of the finest, most beloved museums, the Honolulu Museum of Art? Because really, surfing is our living art. We’re stoked.
Running July 5-31, the seventh annual Honolulu Surf Film Festival is screening its largest lineup yet, with 52 short- and feature-films ranging from new releases to surfing classics. Get more information here.
