Holy Surf
Directed by Benjamin Morel and Christophe Bouquet
Surfing has been practised by Polynesians for thousands of years, and is more than just a sport: it is the culture of the people of the water, swallowed up at the end of the 19th century by Western colonialism. And yet, in the space of a century, it has become an Olympic sport, resurrected thanks to a few legends from the fringes and practised by millions of enthusiasts around the world. For the Paris Olympics, the competition will return to where surfing was born: in Tahiti on the most beautiful wave in the world, Teahupo'o.
Trailer
At the 2024 Olympic Games, the world's best surfers will compete 20,000 km from Paris, in Tahiti, where surfing was born. The thrill of competition will go hand in hand with a revenge on history.
Surfing has its roots in Polynesia. In Hawaii and Tahiti, riding the waves is simply an extension of a unique mastery of the ocean, acquired during the settlement of the Pacific islands over more than 3,000 years. Much more than a sport, surfing is the expression of a culture, that of the people of the water, the Polynesians.
Now practised by millions of enthusiasts, surfing has earned its place in the Olympics through exploits, revolutions and the conquest of wild spaces. Across the centuries and around the world, the film meets surfers past and present: Duke Kahanamoku, a young Hawaiian who became the first surfing legend; Miki Dora, the king of Malibu who refused to accept the dictates of society; Lisa Andersen, the first woman to make her mark in the men's world of surfing; Laird Hamilton and Kelly Slater, who pushed back the limits of the sport; and Kauli Vaast, Vahine Fierro and Johanne Defay, who are on course for the 2024 Olympics. With the help of breathtaking archive footage and exclusive interviews, the pioneers of surfing and the contenders for the Olympic title tell the story of how this Polynesian culture conquered the whole world.
Directors Benjamin Morel and Christophe Bouquet (who also provide commentary) use this duality to tell the story of this different sport in an original way. (...) The difference in tone is quickly apparent. In front of the camera, Vahine Fierro and Kauli Vaast, two professional surfers selected for the Olympics, don't talk about performance, but about respect, spirituality, and the "spirit of the sport". manathe sacred fire born of the union of opposites - Le Monde
The film is accessible to neoprene neophytes but will also appeal to wax addicts thanks to its rich archive footage, including a rare sequence showing surfing pioneer Duke Kahanamoku standing on a board in 1906. From Justine Dupont, a big-wave chaser, to Laird Hamilton, an accomplished waterman, the many eyewitness accounts recall the mystical passion that drives surfers the world over, past and present - Télérama
High-level sport often reveals the soul of a people. As we can see from this breathtaking film about surfing (...) You think you're going to talk about muscles but it's all about the soul - Le Figaro
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