Surfing became the obsession of a legion of bored and restless teenagers in 1960s Australia, kids looking for adventure and freedom from the stultifying norms and expectations of their straight 1950s upbringing.
They found it in the heaving waters of the east coast, and further afield. Seeking out the best surf spots and the uninhibited fun and fellowship of like-minded young men and women became their culture, their life, almost a religion – much to the displeasure of their parents and very often the authorities, who were unhappy with the long, sea-messed hair, larrikin attitude and two-fingered salute to authority and dullness.
The arrival of the exciting new phenomenon and its far-reaching impact are recorded in a thrilling documentary film showing at the Byron Bay Film Festival in October.
You Should Have Been Here Yesterday is directed by Jolyon Hoff, a respected filmmaker with many fine works to his name, including Searching for Michael Peterson, a study of the 1970s Australian surfing legend. Hoff’s highly commended The Staging Post was one of the best performing documentaries in Australian cinemas in 2017/18 and helped raise more than a million dollars for refugee-led education in Indonesia. He then made use of the ‘downtime’ enforced upon him by the Covid pandemic to create The Surf Film Archive.
You Should Have Been Here Yesterday draws on that archive to include footage lovingly scanned from hundreds of hours of 8mm and 16mm film shot by amateurs, news camera operators and the makers of nearly 50 films, among them Four Corner’s Surfing Story from 1965, various ‘home-made’ reels from legends such as Ma and Pa Bendall, and full-length works from names such as Bob Evans, Dick Hoole, Andy McAlpine, Steve Otton, Paul Witzig, alongside other cameramen and fellow surfing icons Pauline Menczer, Jodie Harrison, Thornton Fallander, ‘Midget’ Farrelly, George Greenough, Chris Brock, Jack McCoy, Bob McTavish and many, many more. Tim Winton, Wayne Lynch, Albe Falzon, Evelyn Rich, Maurice Cole and a host of others also have a few words to say, from then and now.
It’s an absolute feast of surfing cinematography and a joy to watch for anyone who has ever paddled out – and for those who have ever wanted to.
It is especially fascinating because it also explores how the phenomenon evolved, including the entry of girls and women into the sport. Their presence in the surf was not always welcomed by the blokes, but masculine prejudice didn’t stand a chance in the face of gutsy leadership from women such as Marjorie ‘Ma’ Bendall, who took up surfing in her 50s.
Other aspects of the age were not always so happy. Inevitably, given the revolutionary era and surfers’ anarchic and thrill-seeking impulses, drugs crept in, carrying the initial promise of a heightened experience championed by the likes of Timothy Leary. Minds were blown and addiction took some of the finest athletes out. “We lost so many,” one old-timer laments.
And the popularity of surfing meant it drew attention from the Mr Joneses of the straight world – the promoters, salesmen, corporations and hucksters seeing an opportunity to commercialise it, drag it into the mainstream, and make a buck. Some good may have come from that in terms of cash prizes, but transforming surfing into a bankable global craze was not an ideal outcome for the true water-babies. Competitiveness and aggression entered the scene.
More reverential attention was paid to surfing by those board-riders who turned their obsession into a creative calling – either shaping boards and pushing the envelope in design or, as the film reveals, picking up a camera and creating artistic works for the cinema, looking to share their passion. “The 60s were the days when if you wanted to get your fix of surfing visuals you had to go to the movies,” one says – and the film shows queues of tanned, bare-chested youths and blond-haired babes pouring into picture theatres, chucking Jaffas around and whooping at the dramatic wipe-outs on screen.
You Should Have Been Here Yesterday is historic, and there is nostalgia evoked, as its name implies: it is the loving recreation of an era, when surfers thought they could change the world. Some of the innocence and daringness of the young pioneers may have been lost, but the heart of surfing remains, the feeling of having been kissed by God, as one legend expresses it. And despite the look backwards, the film is hopeful, inspiring, and even profound: Bob Evans and others reveal the spiritual lessons that surfing has given them – the humility and wisdom that was instilled in them by the most rigorous of teachers – the ocean. “Everybody gets slapped,” one says.
Adding to the dynamic visual treat of the film (and the local vibe of it) is a swirling, pounding soundtrack from Headland, a collective of Australian musicians who compose, record and perform music for surf films, with old surfer Murray Paterson at the helm.
The Byron festival’s opening night film, Aquarius, tells a similar story to You Should Have Been Here Yesterday, of a tectonic shift in the zeitgeist driven by disenchanted youth reacting to the drab and unfulfilling world that, post-war, still failed to pursue the ideals of peace, harmony and understanding.
Directed by Byron Bay filmmaker Wendy Champagne, and also drawing upon hours of archival footage, Aquarius documents the 1973 Aquarius Festival that transformed the fading hinterland village of Nimbin into the vibrant rainbow region that exists today. The two films are celebrations not only of young people demanding more from life than what materialism offers, but of the Northern Rivers region, and its role as a crucible of free-thinking and activism.
The 18th Byron Bay Film Festival runs from October 18-27 at Byron Palace Cinemas and other venues. Visit www.bbff.com.au for more information.
