Ride the Wave, the debut feature documentary from Tayport-born director Martyn Robertson, opens its UK run at DCA this evening.
The film follows young surfer Ben Larg over a period of four years, documenting his home and family life on Tiree and ultimately his drive to surf one of the world’s biggest waves.
According to Martyn, he first approached Ben to be the subject of his film when the surfer was just 12.
“He had just won the Scottish under-18 championships in Thurso, and at that point, we thought we were making a film about the first Scot to represent Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.”
Grab your tickets and get ready to 𝘙𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘷𝘦 🏄♂️
Coming 9th September to a cinema near you 🎬
Tickets 👉 https://t.co/qA72RyEcm2@UrbancroftFilms @MetFilm_Sales @CosmicCatFilms @screenscots @CreativeScots @vivaverve pic.twitter.com/aq8xbxztf2
— Ride the Wave Documentary (@RTWdoc) September 3, 2022
The former Madras College pupil explains: “But as all good stories go, the story took a natural twist and sent us in a different direction and a different sort of form of surfing from competition surfing to boy versus wave surfing, big wave surfing in Ireland.”
Martyn and his team immersed themselves in Ben’s family life. “They completely trusted us.”
Steep learning curve
Not a surfer himself, he had to quickly learn a lot about the sport.
“We had to kind of learn to be really nimble, ready to shoot and also very patient,” he reflects. “We had to learn how to read weather charts, we had to learn about swell and all the surfing terms that Ben had – it was like, you know, learning a new language!
“I think one of the big challenges was making sure that the relationship with the family was positive at all times and that they knew what we were doing and why we were doing it.
“Ben often didn’t notice what was happening, which was really great for us because it allowed us to really see those intimate moments with a family.”
It was also important to strike the balance between celebrating Ben’s incredible talent with keeping him safe, Martyn says, “to make sure that we weren’t necessarily putting Ben in a position where he felt he had to do something”. He adds: “Ben actually says in the film, that this isn’t about making a film, this is about him making decisions for himself.”
As the film progresses, the tension mounts. Ben travels to Ireland to surf a huge wave. “Obviously, things played in our favour, there was a huge hurricane in Ireland at the point we were filming, which adds lots of drama to the story, and visually, really helps the film.”
Martyn adds: “For me, it’s not just a film about surfing, it’s a film about growing up. And now that we know that Ben is really one of the most exciting sportsmen to come out of Scotland, and he’s going to go on to bigger and better things.
“I’m really proud that we’ve managed to have the privilege to capture the beginning of his career and I think that will be something he and his family can keep forever.”
Ride The Wave is showing at DCA until September 15, at The Montrose Playhouse on September 16 and at The New Picture House, St Andrews on September 22.
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