Jet-Ski driver bringing a surfer to the wave © Juergen Skarwan
Wavescapes Surf Film Festival
Surfer rides monster wave 12kms up the Amazon
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, December 2, 2004: CAPE TOWN - A four
metre tidal wave that sweeps up the Amazon during spring tides has been ridden
by a surfer for 37 minutes over a distance of 12 kilometres - believed to be the
longest wave ever surfed.
Brazilian Picuruta Salazar, in the Amazon to shoot a documentary, rode the
dreaded 'Pororoca' as it swept up the huge South American river. Indian
tribesman call the wave 'Pororoca', which means 'monster', 'killer' or 'great
destructive noise'. The feat has been captured on film and appears in the
documentary, Pororoca.
Pororoca will be shown in Cape Town at the Wavescapes Surf Film Festival,
sponsored by First National Bank, from Friday 10th to Saturday 18th December.
The wave comes when the massive flow of the Amazon, strengthened by an
outgoing spring tide, pushes back the ocean. Even after the tide turns, the
might of the river holds the ocean in check. However, the pushing tide continues
to build up immense pressure. Suddenly, the sea snaps back, surging forward as a
single large swell. Amplified as it sweeps into the rivermouth, the wave
catapults upstream, washing away tons of dirt, animals and the occasional
villager. After about 13kms, the wave dissipates.
The Pororoca at the mouth of Araguari River © Juergen Skarwan
A group of international surfing stars were selected by Red Bull to tame
the Pororoca: big wave surfers Carlos Burle, Eraldo Gueiros and Picuruta Salazar
from Brazil, and Australian surf legend Ross Clarke-Jones. It was Salazar who
managed to ride the muddy wave all the way through the jungle for an exhausting
37 minutes, riding in the pocket of the breaking wave as it broke along the
banks of the river.
Poroca is one of 16 international and South Africans films being shown at the
Wavescapes Surf Film Festival, which marks a return to the 'Endless Summer' big
screen surf era, but with a modern twist. The festival culminates in an outdoor
show using a three-storey inflatable cinema screen on Clifton Fourth Beach. The
screen represents a new trend in cinematic technology: a mobile drive-in without
the driving in. The 12m x 8m screen was manufactured in South Africa for the
festival.
Resembling a giant jumping castle, the screen stays aloft through a silent
electric fan and stays wind-resistant via stays fixed to the ground and weighted
ballast filled with water.
Steve Pike, who runs the Cape Town-based surf portal and weather service, www.Wavescape.co.za ,
said visitors to Sydney may remember the thrill of watching a film on a screen
that floats in the ocean beneath the stars in Sydney Harbour.
Brazilian surfer Picurata Salazar © Juergen Skarwan
The festival will screen international hits such as Riding Giants, a
sell-out at the recent Encounters Documentary Film Festival in Cape Town.
Wavecapes will premiere Step Into Liquid, which broke records at the US box
office last year. This feature-length documentary is made by Dana, son of Bruce
Brown, who made Endless Summer in 1966.
Brett Erasmus, Head of Segment Marketing at First National Bank, said their
association with the festival tied in neatly with their involvement in surfing
through the Billabong Junior Series. "Financial education of our youth is vital
and our involvement in the Junior series is thus twofold. The other aspect is
development of young talent and is for this reason that we are sending the top 6
boys and top girl over to Australia to compete in various surf events." Other
films include the premiere of Blue Horizon, a new release by surf label
Billabong, that recently won the award for the best reportage documentary at the
Sports Movies and Television International Festival in Milan, Italy.
Taking Back the Waves is the story of Rastafarian surfer Cass Collier and his
family. Nic Hofmeyr's film shows how Collier and friend Ian Armstrong went on to
win a world title for South Africa at the 1999 World Big Wave Championships in
Todos Santos, Mexico. This socio-political documentary is a fresh glimpse into
the surfing sub-culture of South Africa.
Films are also showing at the Labia Cinema on Orange Street and the Brass
Bell in Kalk Bay. Check the movies
More details at www.wavescapes.co.za
More African Surfing News available here
Check the
latest Africa Surf Reports and Forcasts
Steve Pike
spike@wavescape.co.za
Film Festivals - Surfersvillage
- - News and Announcements presented by - -
Getting Stoked -o- Cream Café – Robbie Page -o- Contests Register
- CNS Portugal -o- Worldwide Surforecasts -o- Euro
Camper Rentals -
