For Our Eyes Only

Event Recap - CVRRENT Independent surf and snow film festival. Held Globally.

Leicas are being passed around like party favors. A majority brought their coolest camera to an already well covered event. The target demographic, has arrived.

Eclectic tunes echo over the soft grass. Equally eclectic and perfectly fringe conversations are being had in the Hydrophile surf craft tent, as almost every single attendee is stopping in to feverishly inspect finely tuned foils. All of the vendors are offering top quality, limited edition wares. Finance was secondary in this open air marketplace. An exchange of ideas, laughs and compliments formed, while people picked limited edition gear.

Groups start to assemble in front of Rhode To Bali's incredible set. It's not dissimilar to the proverbial campus quad, but the audience isn't strictly academic. Their live performance sets the wavelength for the rest of the night, and everyone files into the tent under the afternoons golden light. The shaper talk lasts until dusk, and is deeply insightful through the technical yet vague dialect that comes with the game. Trying to explain how a manufactured object communes with something as intangible as a wave is forever, a novelty.

After some quippy MC-ing, light and color beams from the omnipotent eye of the projector. Unseen footage occupies the canvas. Clip after clip rolls, with justified breaks for popcorn eating contests, beer runs, arm wrestling and giveaways for the loyal viewers that stayed until the end. The footage shown was awe inspiring. Potent. Hard to walk away from knowing it could be weeks, months or an eternity before you could re-watch it at home. Thats the bittersweet truth of being a first audience. So we hang on to the memories of the light leaks, stance switches, scimitar carves, flowy tunes and distant beaches... until next time.