Surfing the Rustbelt Documentary
When most people think of surfing they immediately draw a parallel to beautiful shorelines in warm places such as California or Hawaii. They do not associate surfing with below freezing temperatures, icy shores, or vast industrial landscapes on the horizon. In spite of the contemporary commercialization of the sport, surfing the lakes does not have the appeal that most popular surf destinations have. There is a lot of will power that comes in putting on a 6 mm wetsuit and wading into lethally cold water or paddling through a break zone similar to that of a washing machine, often laden with chunks of ice during the colder months, just to get the unique adrenaline rush of standing on a wave. In this film we capture the environment and scenery and what these people put themselves through to ride waves. The protagonist of the story is weather, being both a formidable adversary along with bringing together the community of surfers on Lake Michigan.