Best Surfing Documentaries

Filmmaker Bruce Brown, a surfer himself, follows Michael Hynson and Robert August on a world surfing trip. Brown uses his wry narration and The Sandals' guitar music over silent footage. Mike and Rob leave California to visit Hawaii, Australia, South Africa, and other remote spots seeking the surfer's ultimate wave, which Brown calls "The Perfect Wave."

This film covers the intense trials, painful sacrifices, and great wins of a small, influential surfing group. They started as teenagers in Hawaii, living in a small house on Oahu.

White Rhino is a 2019 American sports documentary film directed by Brent Storm. A professional surf photographer hunts for the biggest surf ever seen, aiming to capture a once-in-a-lifetime image. He finds something much bigger.

Three surfers travel to eight remote locations. They search for perfect waves and an escape from competition stress.

Bunker77 is a 2016 American biographical documentary film by Takuji Masuda. It chronicles the wild, short life of Bunker Spreckels, the most controversial surf star and international playboy from Los Angeles in the 1970s.

Scratching the Surface is a 2010 American surfing documentary film directed by Matt Beauchesne. Budding surf star Julian Wilson and friends, including professionals Dane Reynolds, Taj Burrow, Dusty Payne, and Mick Fanning, spend a year hitting some of the world's best surf spots.

River surfing began in Munich.

Blue Horizon is a 2004 documentary film directed by Jack McCoy.

Waveriders is a 2008 documentary film. Margo Harkin produced it, and Joel Conroy directed it.

Five Summer Stories is a 1972 surf film made by Jim Freeman and Greg MacGillivray. David Nuuhiwa, Eddie Aikau, Gerry Lopez, and Sam Hawk star in the film. A VHS re-release hit in 1994, and a DVD followed that same year. The Southern California band Honk composed and recorded the Original Sound Track. Honk released the soundtrack on LP in 1972 and re-released it on CD in 1992. John Lamb created the original animation. Lamb animated surfing and skateboarding early on. He later won an Academy Award for inventing the Lyon Lamb Video Anim.

Modern Collective is a 2009 American sports documentary film directed by Kai Neville. Six surfers form a group and travel to change how people see modern surfing.

Resurface is a 2017 documentary film by Joshua Izenberg and Wynn Padula. After years of nightmares, depression, and seizures, Iraq war veteran Bobby Lane meets big wave surfer Van Curaza. Van Curaza started Operation Surf and dedicates his life to helping veterans find peace in surfing.

Scott Ditzenberger and Darrin McDonald directed Out of Place. The film follows lake surfers in Cleveland, Ohio. Lake Erie waves lack quality. Business, family, and friends stop them from moving. Surfers seek winter waves, often facing freezing conditions, including during a snow bound Great Lakes Eastern Surfing Association competition shown in the film.

Surfing happened in California during the early '60s.

Wayne Lynch, an Australian surfer, starts in his seaside town of Lorne. The film shows his journey to surfing. Lynch used surfing to escape conscription and the Vietnam War.

Ted Woods directed White Wash. This film explores race in America through the struggle and triumph of black surfers. Grammy Award® winner Ben Harper narrates. Tariq "Blackthought" Trotter of the Roots appears. Black surfers from Hawaii, Jamaica, Florida, and California tell their stories. This film, which looks deep into America's painful legacy of slavery and exclusion, covers surfing's "discovery" by Captain James Cook in Hawaii in 1778 up to the surf culture explosion during that time.

Liquid Time is a 2002 avant-garde surf film. It focuses only on the fluid shapes of tubing waves. Brothers Monty Webber and Greg Webber revived their childhood love for perfect tiny waves. They filmed the wake of their runabout as it cut along a river sandbank. The 20-minute film earned the Cinematography Award at the Saint Jean de Luz Surf Film Festival.

Blake Kueny directed View from a Blue Moon, an American sports documentary from 2015. The world's most dynamic surfer, John Florence, travels with his closest friends from his home on Oahu's North Shore to his favorite global surfing spots.

Steve and Todd Jones directed 'Andy Irons: Kissed by God,' a 2018 American sports documentary. The film shows bipolar disorder and addiction through the life of three-time world champion surfer Andy Irons. Andy Irons' life dismantles myths about these two intense diseases.

'Crystal Voyager' is a 1973 Australian surf film directed by David Elfick. Surfer, photographer, and filmmaker George Greenough wrote, filmed, and narrated it. Greenough previously made the 1970 film 'The Innermost Limits of Pure Fun.' The film follows Greenough's life as a loose biography, shot mostly in California. It shows Greenough seeking uncrowded waves, which prompted him to build his 37-foot ocean-going yacht. The film also features Greenough's surfing friends: Californian Richie West and Australian world champion Nat Young. 'Crystal Voyager' premiered at the Syd

Jess Bianchi directed the 2016 Australian family sports documentary film, Given. A young family leaves their home on Kauai to follow the itinerant path from which their unusual lives spring, starting and ending at a remote Pacific spot.

Riding Giants mixes sports history with a thrill ride. Skateboarder Stacy Peralta's documentary honors the brave, foolish surfers who ride the world's biggest waves. Peralta shows how big-wave surfing evolved from the '50s to now, showing changing trends and the constant hunt for bigger waves. He then focuses on current surfing superstars, including Jeff Clark, who pioneered San Francisco's remote waves, and Laird Hamilton, known for tow-in riding.

Dana Brown, son of surfer and filmmaker Bruce Brown, directed Step into Liquid. The film shows surfing footage from the famous Pipeline, Vietnam beaches, and some of the world's largest waves at Cortes Bank. This film was Dana Brown's first solo project.

Bustin' Down The Door is a 2008 documentary chronicling professional surfing's rise in the early 1970s. The film tracks young surfers from Australia and South Africa, including Shaun Tomson, Wayne 'Rabbit' Bartholomew, Ian Cairns, Mark Richards, Michael Tomson, and Peter Townend. They move to Hawaii, facing obstacles, turf wars, and huge wipeouts. Clashes with locals, some of whom felt the newcomers' bravery insulted Hawaiian culture, end with death threats against the subjects.

Filmmaker Rory Kennedy describes the career of big wave surfer Laird Hamilton, a man who spent his life conquering untamable water walls.

One California Day is a 2007 documentary about surfing shot across six California coast regions. Mark Jeremias and Jason Baffa directed the film, showing California surfing from Crescent City to Imperial Beach. They shot the film on super 16mm color film.

Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe made his first feature film directing this surf drama. Sunny, Koby, and Jai Abberton ride rough waves and start an underground movement in the Australian seaside town of Maroubra. Crowe also narrated the 2007 documentary of the same name, which the Abberton siblings produced with close teamwork.

Alby Falzon and David Elfick made the 1971 surf film, Morning of the Earth. G. Wayne Thomas produced the soundtrack, which included music and songs from Tamam Shud, John J. Francis, Brian Cadd, and G. Wayne Thomas. That record became the first Australian Gold soundtrack album. In October 2010, the soundtrack for Morning of the Earth appeared in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums. The film shows surfers living in spiritual harmony with nature. They make their own boards while searching for the perfect wave across Australia’s north-east coast.

Philip Gnadt and Mickey Yamine directed the 2016 German sports documentary, Gaza Surf Club. Gaza's youth seek meaning and perspective for their chaotic lives by surfing on their beaches in a country trapped between Egypt and Israel.

Bruce Brown, the documentarian, explores international surf spots in this sequel to the classic surfing movie. Brown visits Alaska, Indonesia, Fiji, France, and South Africa. Renowned pro surfer Robert "Wingnut" Weaver, an experienced longboarder, and Patrick O'Connell, who excels at shortboarding, accompany Brown. Windsurfing and bodyboarding also appear.

Bruce Brown made Surf Crazy, the second surf movie. Filmed in 1959, it follows surfers to Mexico, Hawaii, and California. Velzyland in Hawaii, named for surfboard manufacturer Dale Velzy, was one location filmed.

The 1969 documentary film, The Fantastic Plastic Machine, follows California surfers traveling to an Australian surfing competition. Jay North narrated the film. Eric and Lowell Blum directed it. Filming occurred in California, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji.

David Lourie, Jack McCoy, and Dick Hoole made the 1982 film Storm Riders. The film features top surfers and world champion windsurfers. "Hoole/McCoy Films" and "Rip Curl Wetsuits" produced it with "L.K. Communications". Filming took place in Sumatra, Java, Bali, Africa, Hawaii, and Australia. They digitally remastered and re-released Storm Riders in 2007 for its 25th anniversary.

Alexander Klein directed the 2010 surfing documentary, God Went Surfing with the Devil. The film follows activists trying to get 23 surfboards into the Gaza strip. The group faces problems, including Israel sealing the Gaza border. The DVD hit the US on May 24, 2011, and Netflix distributed it shortly after.

Surfers compete in the Triple Crown competitions in Oahu.

Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz and his wife left a traditional home life. They raise their large family in a 24-foot camper and surf their time.

Chris Burkard directed the 2017 American sports documentary film, Under an Arctic Sky. Six surfers sailed the frozen shores of Iceland as the worst storm in twenty-five years approached.