Opening 7 Jul 2005
Directed by:
Stacy Peralta
Writing credits:
Stacy Peralta, Sam George
Everybody’s gone surf’n, surf’n USA… the song by the Beach Boys and films like Gidget conjured up images that surfing was easy, glamorous and that it was everyman’s sport — if you were cool! But in reality, only a few “gnarly” characters were fit for this lifestyle because it was (and still is) difficult to ride the wild-side of the Big Waves. These “gnarly” dudes thus earned their name as the Big Wave Surfers. Film director Stacy Peralta (Lords of Dogtown and Z-Boys) puts the Hollywood style surf scene on the back burner in Riding Giants and narrates the compelling evolution of the sport since the 1500s. However, Peralta’s specialty is documenting the historical account of Big Wave Surfers and their passion to ride the surf, at all costs.
Most of the surfing legends communicate that aside from the birth of their children, to ride the biggest and best waves the Earth's oceans have to offer is the ultimate experience in life. Peralta visually communicates to the audience this ultimate experience and attempts to capture the heartbeat of such a thrill seeker of the sea. Peralta provides a peek at some awesome original film footage of surfing Gurus like Greg Noll, Buzzy Trent, Jeff Clark, and Liard Hamilton, among others, spanning the surfing community off the shores of the Hawaiian Islands, Southern California and Tahiti since 1940. Over the past seventy years, every generation has made a significant mark on this sport, which has built a higher level of thrill and expectation to conquer the oceans’ surf giants. Riding Giants is a journey you do not want to miss, and you don’t even have to get wet! (Karen Pecota)
