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Surfing legend Shaun Tomson's film set for Durban Int. Film Festival

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 30 June, 2008 : - - Former world surfing champion Shaun Tomson is to launch his hit film Bustin' Down the Door this week in his home town Durban, where he first made his mark as a competitive surfer. The Durban premiere, on Thursday 3 July, is a precursor to the Wavescapes Surf Film Festival, part of the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) that runs between July 23 and August 3.

Wavescapes opens with an outdoor screening of the film High Water on Sunday, July 27 at the Bay of Plenty, the beach where Tomson's meteoric rise to fame began as a youngster in the mid-1960s. Tomson and other surfing luminaries will attend the special screening of Bustin' Down the Door, arranged by Wavescapes, DIFF and Nu Metro. However, tickets will also be on sale to the public.

"Durban obviously plays a big role in the movie, and it features classic old footage taken at the Bay of Plenty by my father, Ernie," says Tomson.

Tomson, who lives in California, said the film packed out a 2,200-seat theatre several times at its world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival recently. "They told us it was the most popular film ever, which was really amazing for us. I really loved to see its wider appeal. While obviously great for surfers, it also tells a great story that interests a lot of people."

Bustin' Down the Door is a compelling feature documentary that tells the story of the brash, competitive batch of cocky Aussies and South Africans who invaded the North Shore of Hawaii in the early 1970s. Led by Shaun, his cousin Mike Tomson, and Australians Rabbit "Bugs" Bartholomew, Ian Cairns, Peter Townend and Mark Richards, they sowed the seed of professional surfing by cracking open the stereotypes and redefining the soul of surfing, eventually culminating in the rock star, brand-driven world it is today.

A clip of Muhammad Ali in the film best encapsulates the youthful arrogance of the era: "I'm young, I'm handsome, I'm fast, I'm pretty, and can't possibly be beat." Bartholomew even dressed in boxing robes for a magazine shoot. The article was later headlined "Muhammad Bugs".  "If you're going to talk like Cassius Clay, you got to put up like Cassius Clay, and that's what happened," says Hawaiian surfer Barry Kanaiaupuni in the movie, referring to the ugly scenes that followed brazenly arrogant articles by Barthomelew and Cairns in surfing magazines.

Bartholomew's article Bustin' down the Door, and another by Cairns entitled 'Aloha is dead', dissed the Hawaiians, while puffing themselves up as the advance guard of surfing evolution. The locals, on the other hand, were 'stagnating'.

The Hawaiians were deeply offended at this colonial arrogance. They were furious that the Haoles (Hawaiian for foreigners) had taken their hospitality for granted. As tough guy Eddie Rothman, former head of the infamous 'Black Shirts' surfing club, laments: "The people's land was taken away. Their ancestors were killed off. And people ask me, where's your aloha spirit? I say the people who came to Hawaii have beaten the Aloha spirit out of it."

When Bartholomew returned to Hawaii for the next winter surfing season, he was famously beaten up at Sunset Beach. Suddenly noticing he was alone, he looked to shore, where hundreds of "gnarly" Hawaiian surfers lined the beach. He "copped" the "licking" of his life and ended up hiding in the bushes for days, terrified. Tomson and Cairns even bought 12-gauge shotguns and slept with them in case of attack.

The tumultuous times in surfing history are ably directed by young directorJeremy Gosch and narrated by Hollywood movie star Ed Norton. "We showed Ed, who is a keen surfer, a 15-minute show reel of the film, which had been shot but not properly edited. He loved what he saw and was keen to get involved," says Tomson, who was executive producer.

Bustin' Down the Door will be commercially released after the premiere in selected Nu Metro cinemas. The Durban International Film Festival showcases top films from around the world in a feast of over 300 screenings at various locations in the city and townships.

The Wavescapes Surf Film Festival component, from 27 July to 1 August, includes artistic eulogies, gritty documentaries about surfing in the Vietnam War, tow-surfing giant Irish waves, classic longboarding in war-torn Liberia, and a documentary about Zulu surfers from Umzumbe.

More information, including times, programmes and film synopses of the surfing film festival, can be found at wavescape.co.za . Information about DIFF can be obtained at cca.ukzn.ac.za or by phoning 031 2602506.

www.cca.ukzn.ac.za
www.wavescape.co.za

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