Kitesurfing legends soar onto big screen

LENNOX Head kitesurfers Steve McCormack and Neil ‘Kenno’ Kennedy will star in a documentary screening as part of the Byron Bay International Film Festival.

The movie, Chasing the Breeze, showcases the friends’ passion for the sport, which is popular up and down the NSW north coast thanks to the area’s favourable waves and winds, especially in spring and autumn.

The 10-minute short is directed by Suffolk Park-based Noah Malin, who is an international student at Byron Bay’s SAE University College.

“I’m from Switzerland so I’m big into snowboarding and I love filming all kinds of action sports,” he said.

“I also wanted to do something in the ocean, because there’s no ocean where I’m from.”

Malin said that he considers kitesurfing “snowboarding in the sea”, so he was interested in the sport and how it was established and spread in Australia.

He wanted to feature McCormack because he is considered a legend in the sport, founding the country’s first kitesurfing shop, Kitepower Australia.

“I think he had seen other people do it, but Steve kind of started kitesurfing around here,” he said.

“At first he was using normal kites with a buggy on the beach, but he just wanted to get out onto the ocean and give it a shot.

“He cut the back off some skis off and went into the ocean with them.

“At first, he could figure out how to get out, but not how to get back in.

“At some point he used a normal surfboard and drilled some holes in it, then put some straps on it.”

Chasing the Breeze screens as part of the BBIFF’s Through the Local Lense session at Brunswick Picture House from 1pm on October 26.

For more information or tickets, visit https://www.bbff.com.au/short-films/chasingthebreeze