Adam Pesce's surf documentary, Splinters, is the perfect film to demonstrate just that. During the 80's, an Australian pilot who visited the area of Vanimo, Papa New Guinea, introduced the sport of surfing to the locals as they observed him surf the waves nearby. When the Aussie departed he left his surfboard behind. Splinters documents the effects of surfing's introduction twenty years later.
Papa New Guinea is a nation in which most of its inhabitants live in poverty without any running water or electricity, and labor rigorously in subsistence farming as their main trade. In this film, one will notice how surfing has had an impact on gender roles, hierarchy, and the locals' economic status, to name a few. Viewers have the opportunity to observe how a local surf competition may, or may not, dramatically change the lives of four surfers by providing them the chance to leave PNG. From an anthropologist's point of view, one will find this film intriguing in watching the shapes and perspectives being changed through the art, sport, and culture of surfing. Globalization and surfing all encapsulated into ninety-five solid capturing minutes.
To avoid spoiling the documentary, enjoy this trailer:
To learn more about Splinters and view it in its entirety, click here:
- Bobby Poort
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