The Archive Hunt…
One of the best things about making a historical film is the opportunity to trawl through hundreds of hours of cine-reels, VHS and Super 8…and rest assured there are some absolute treasures that have been locked away in archive houses and surfer’s lofts!
Our favourite find so far came courtesy of Marj and Peter Ganz, wife and son of the late Viv Ganz. Viv was Wales’ first known stand-up surfer so we naturally wanted to find some footage or images of him surfing.
The footage of Viv and the early Langland crew is amazing, massive boards, dodgy wetsuits, classic haircuts, and all in glorious technicolor!
Also among Viv’s reels were two unexpected treasures; a pair of classic Hawaiian and Californian surf films. One is a 1960 John Severson movie (the founder of Surfer mag) and the other is an amazing film called ‘Riding the Crest’ from 1939! Really rare finds and some mind blowing footage.
Here’re a few screen grabs from Viv’s reels, it’s going to make for a beautiful section.
