Watching Water by Joe Tyrrell
Filmed in Southern California and on the North Shore of Oahu, ‘Watching Water’ sets out to explore the visceral essence of surfing. The sounds, the solitude, the friendships formed, the experience of being in the ocean and living ultimately by its rules.
From that first turn, to the first win. The local break and being far from home. The changes, the moments – and the courage to face them. Being with friends – and loosing them. This is a story, about what it means, to be out there.
Filmmaker, Jo Tyrrell explains what inspired her to travel to Southern California and on the North Shore of Oahu. “I wanted to go to California, and make a little project about surfing. The idea was vague at best, but a friend lent me a video camera and two weeks later I was on a plane. I just filmed what I saw and asked questions I wanted to know the answers to. I didn’t care who was who, or what contest they had or hadn’t been in. There are no prefect barrels or airs, just people talking about what they love and how it’s shaped them. To me, it’s in those moments of being passionate, of loosing yourself so entirely in something you love that we get the closest to being alive. People were beyond patient. They answered all my questions. They talked about the ritual, swell directions, their first board, getting older, what it feels like to wipe out on truly big waves, being alone, loosing friends and how they say goodbye, and finally, after all these years, helped me understand what it means, to ‘be out there’” – Jo Tyrrell, Dairy Beach Productions.
