Film festival’s new wave

Once reserved for stale theaters and old video-cassette players, the surfing film genre has seen an elevation in recent years to a status on par with popular independent films.

In recognition of cinema dedicated to all things action sports ? surfing, snowboarding, skiing, skateboarding, biking and off-roading ? the Newport Beach Film Festival is introducing a new series dedicated to thrill-seeking.

Surf movies are nothing new to the local film festival. The Newport event was the launch for the hugely popular “Step into Liquid” by Dana Brown, son of surf film pioneer and “Endless Summer” director Bruce Brown.

Throughout the years, the festival would launch other popular action-sports films: “Riding Giants,” “Dogtown and Z-Boys” and “Dust to Glory.” “Most of the action sports industry is focused in Orange County, so obviously the audience is there,” said festival organizer Todd Quartararo. “It just made sense for us to start growing the action sports series.”

For years, surfing and skateboarding movies were mostly highlight footage of professionals in exotic locales, performing stunts over a backdrop of hard rock and gritty VHS video.

Things began to change with the advent of digital media and its relatively cheap accessibility to independent filmmakers. The availability also brought about a shift to a more traditional documentary form, with surfing or snowboarding often serving as an element in a larger story.

One of this year’s entrants, filmmaker Peter Goetz, set out to make a movie about Peruvian surfer Sofia Mulanovich, only to travel to South America and discover a deeply impoverished nation living vicariously through its hometown hero’s successes.

“This film is a lot more about the human condition ? surfing is just the vehicle,” Goetz said.

“These are places in the world that people have never seen or knew existed,” festival organizer Leslie Feibleman said. “It really unites the people of the world, and it’s a great way for the communities to come together.”

Here are the movies highlighted in this year’s Action Sports Series: