The program includes around 40 short and feature-length surf films from around the world, with many films celebrating their worldwide début.

The participating films explore a variety of subjects, through surf-related stories, such as legendary waves and surf locations, social issues, overcoming mental and physical disabilities, the craft of surfboard shaping, spirituality, sustainability and lifestyle.

The Surf at Lisbon, or SAL, is an annual film festival which was created in the summer of 2012 with the central goal of offering alternative ideas to what surfing is conceived as, mainly through cinematography associated with surfing, “with the aim of rescuing the somewhat lost soul of surfing itself” the SAL website states.

The festival will officially open with the film Hail Mary by Ben Gulliver (US) and end with the locking ceremony screening of the remastered classic Searching for Tom Curren by the late Sonny Miller (US).

Ricardo Gonçalves, who organises the event alongside Luís Nascimento and Alexandre Santos, noted the closing film was chosen “because we value the heritage and the classics of surfing cinematography. It’s important to showcase what’s being done and where it came from.”

The festival will showcase many home and foreign talents, with 13 Portuguese films and 29 international films from Spain, France, Australia, Mozambique, the US, the UK, Italy, South Africa, Belgium, Morocco, Iceland and Hawaii.

Credits: Facebook; Author: Surf At Lisbon Film Fest;

The jury will award prizes for best: full-length film and short film, national production, editing, photography, soundtrack and an award for promoting sustainability.

As in recent years, exhibitions of art, crafts and music related to the surf scene will complement the event. This year, the SAL will host exhibitions from Malorie Knox Surfers and Perfect Designs alongside a live concert by Bradford Ballons.

For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit: SURF AT LISBON

Author

With a passion for surfing and writing, Yariv Kav moved to Portugal´s wave capital from his native Israel. He was awarded a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Manchester back when Oasis was still cool, and a diploma with distinction from the London School of Journalism in Feature and Freelance Writing. Loves travel, languages and human stories.

Yariv Kav