In today’s fast paced surf media world hungry for clips of high voltage action from the sports biggest stars, the reality of the vast majority of surfers on earth is overlooked. The stoked legions of surfers, the common men and women, who live in a world of surf adventure as inspiring as any. Maybe even more inspiring considering the challenges they face. Those surfers willing to seek waves out on the edge, the un-sponsored surfers, doing it tough and imaginative on their own resources, their own dreams, their own money, outside the glare of social media, outside the glare of professionalism, outside even the need to perform at a world class level. And all on a wing and prayer. All for the simple adventure stoke that every surfer needs to quench. The finding of and the surfing of an empty seascape to share with a friend. A short board and red gun, a fistful of hard earned cash, a wrinkled map and an eager hope is all it takes. And so many do it this way, thousands and thousands of surfers, forming an honest and true reality of what the surfing experience to most of us is day after day. An act of surfing not to be seen, but experienced. Not to be produced, but lived.
Seeking to examine this world beyond the glitter, beyond the contests and ratings and glitzy promo’s, Russian surf Filmmaker Jenya Ivkov sought to examine the quieter moments of surf adventure. He found such an adventure and its two travelers in the minds of surfers lldar Bibaev and Kristyan Sterne. Who after much convincing allowed Ivkov to tag along while they lived the dream outside the boundaries in a time honored journey. Two surfers chasing the dream on no more than a rumor of perfect waves on a remote Indonesian island hell and gone from civilization. All the surfers asked was that Ivkov never reveal the new location and that they were not to be interviewed or filmed in “any false way”.
“I look at this short more as a meditation” says Ivkov, “a timeless Indonesian journey that so many normal surfers have taken over the decades. Not a cashed up surf star journey with an entourage of supporters for marketing. But a simple examination of that inquisitive drive we all feel to find our own surfing paradise, our own adventure, even if just for a short time. A time that will resonate in one’s soul for the rest of their lives. Even though this film asks whether or not we control our dreams, I think surfers are the best in the world when making this dream a reality”.
Which brings us to an ever more strident point, particularly after the Covid era. As a surfer, an everyday surfer, right here and right now, the greatest gift you can give yourself is a lifetime of adventures. And Indonesia is here waiting for you.
