The secrets behind

A NEW documentary, Birth of the Endless Summer, is set to screen for two nights in the region. The event features a Q&A with special guest ‘free surfer’ Rob Machado.

The award-winning Richard Yelland film unveils the story behind Bruce Brown’s epic and influential surf film, The Endless Summer. Adventurer and surf pioneer Dick Metz travelled across the world from 1958-1961 and inspired Brown to create one of the most famous surf films of all time and a catalyst to surfing and pop culture change.

Metz’s train-jumping, steamship-hopping tour ultimately led to his discovery of ‘the perfect wave’ at Cape St. Francis, South Africa.

Three generations of surfing’s highest profile personalities feature in the documentary, telling stories of the dreamers and legends from the 50s to the present day.

The film has a long cast, including Metz, Robert August, Mike Hynson, Bruce Brown, Rob Machado, Kelly Slater, Nat Young, Tyler Warren, Bianca Valenti, Dana Brown, and Mikey February.

Ben Marcus described Metz as ‘the most important man in the surfing world you’ve never heard of’, and Dana Brown claims him to be unquestionably ‘the most underrated surf legend ever’.

Surfers and film fans can catch the special event, which offers a chance to win a signed Machado-designed Firewire surfboard and other prizes, at the Lennox Head Cultural Centre on Friday, August 30, and at the Byron Theatre on Sunday, September 1.

For information and tickets, visit byroncentre.com.au/theatre-events/birth-of-the-endless-summer and events.humanitix.com/birth-of-the-endless-summer-q-and-a-with-extra-special-guest-rob-machado