Although Lopez is universally recognized as Pipeline’s original Zen master, he was also one of the first high profile surfers to fall under the spell of the Indonesian archipelago. Gerry’s new film The More Things Change charts his return to Indo 40 years after he first rode the waves of Bali’s Bukit peninsula. Also featuring David Rastovich and Rob Machado (See the full film synopsis and watch the trailer below.
For a sneak peak at the latest issue of Tracks which features the return of Lopez and Peter McCabe to G-land click here:
As part of Patagonia’s New Localism initiative the premiere will also feature two short films, Mile For Mile and The Fisherman’s Son. The engaging mini doco’s focus on specific locations and are designed to inspire local communities to take action on environmental issues, which affect or threaten the natural playgrounds they treasure. (See film summaries below)
www.patagonia.com.au/thenewlocalism
When: Thursday 29th October – Byron Bay - Free entry - 6pm
Where: Byron Community Centre – 69 Jonson St, Byron Bay
Pick up tickets at Patagonia – Shop 1/ 58 Jonson st, Byron Bay – (02) 6685 8528
The More Things Change
Gerry Lopez’s Uluwatu Talk Story
Gerry Lopez first surfed Uluwatu in 1974. The Hawaiian surfer had seen a photo of good friend, Wayne Lynch surfing the wave and followed the clues to Bali. When he eventually found it he paddled out alone.
The ‘Island of the Gods’ was still a well-kept surfing secret and shrouded in mysticism. Lopez and his crew scored perfect surf, and the experience resonated deeply with him. “We thought we’d died and gone to heaven,” he recalls.
Forty years later Gerry returned to Uluwatu, to host a yoga retreat, get a few waves between classes, and reconnect with a piece of his past.
Uluwatu had changed. The old dirt track out to the wave was now a road, log jammed with tourists, the white cliffs were now studded with stucco resorts, and the empty waves Gerry had surfed in 1974 were now full of surfers. He also found that the pristine local environment was straining to cope with the pressure of development.
But over the course of a week Gerry reconnected with the spirit of the place, and found that the more things change…
In the film, Gerry uses Uluwatu – and surfing – as a metaphor for change. Gerry’s message is that change is inevitable, and we should see it, accept it, live in the moment and positively guide that change. There’s a wider message in the film that extends beyond the Bukit and Bali and beyond surfing.
“Surfing is such a great metaphor for life,” says Gerry, “because out in the ocean everything is moving, I mean nothing holds still for you. With snowboarding it does, the mountain, more or less, holds still for you when you are riding it. But in the ocean everything is just in constant motion and life is really the same way. If you don’t move with it, life just passes you right by. So from surfing you learn a great and really wonderful lesson that you have to move with it, to be in the moment spontaneously and to go with the flow smoothly.”
The Fisherman’s Son film tells the story of surf ambassador Ramon Navarro and his push to protect the culture and environment of the Chilean coast, Punta de Lobos.
