Editor’s Note: Last week we published a piece “Bruce Gold is the Last of the Great Surfing Hippies.” This is the story of making that film, told by the filmmaker himself Anders Melchior.
Bruce Gold is the quintessential surfing hippie. He quit his job in his early twenties and moved to Jeffreys Bay. Today he is now 69 years old and still going strong.
In surfing there is a common saying, “work less, surf more.” It’s built on the idea that the ultimate life includes having no job and being able to surf all the time. Bruce is one of the few people on this planet that has actually lived that life. And because of that I think the story about Bruce is important in a global surf culture context. When watching this film I think people will see the reality of a “work less, surf more” dream has both positive and negative sides.
When you meet Bruce at the beach in J-bay he is usually always smiling and saying funny things, often cheering his trademark “AHOY.” The existing Bruce Gold edits on youtube also only show that side of him. I wanted to show more – a private and vulnerable side of Bruce.
Nothing in the film is arranged or staged. I wanted Bruce to behave as he would to if I was not there so people could see authenticity, experiencing who this man really is. The moment at the waterfall, when Bruce suddenly takes of his clothes and jumps in is definitely that stand out moment for me in making this film. I didn’t see it coming but luckily I had the camera rolling.
It was my friend Kristian Breivik´s idea to make a portrait-documentary about Bruce Gold. Kristian is the man behind Frost surfboards and Lofoten surfsenter. Kristian used to live in J-Bay for many years and is an old friend of Bruce. He called me in February and asked me if I wanted to go to South Africa to make a film and the next week we where on the plane.
Bruce Gold – The Last of the Great Surfing Hippies from Anders Melchior on Vimeo.
