“Self-Discovery for Social Survival” turns the afterthought that is a modern surf film screening into a legitimate artistic happening
![Rediscovering The Art Of The Surf Film Premiere](https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/3286/361224/5d498ba3cf15c/Surfing.jpg)
I can’t remember the first time I heard the word “content” used as a catchall to describe writing, photography and film, but I do remember hating it. The word feels vaguely taunting as it tries to diminish the artform it describes, as if to say, “something to fill a void, doesn’t really matter what.”
In the modern era, however, the word makes a sad kind of sense for most surf videos, as independent filmmakers have largely disappeared in the free-everything digital landscape, leaving brands to mostly pump mindless eye candy into your Instagram feed in an effort to achieve marketing objectives over creating real art. The surf film became the web edit became the Instagram clip, and the surf movie premiere became the, gulp, “brand activation.”
That’s what made a warm June night at The Palace Theatre in Los Angeles such a special time and place to be a lover of honest-to-god surf cinema.
This story is from the Volume 60, Issue 3 edition of Surfer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Volume 60, Issue 3 edition of Surfer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
![60 Years Ahead](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3286/528033/5f9675c94e95f/crp_Surf-Surfer-magazine-Surfing.jpg)
60 Years Ahead
We had a whole plan for this year. Funny, right? Surfer's 60 year anniversary volume was going to be filled with stories nodding to SURFER’s past, with cover concepts paying homage to the magazine’s most iconic imagery. Our new Page One depicts something that’s never happened in surfing before, let alone on a prior SURFER cover. And our table of contents was completely scrapped and replaced as we reacted to the fizzing, sparking, roiling world around us. In other words, 2020 happened to SURFER, just like it happened to you.
![A Few Things We Got Horribly Wrong](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3286/528033/5f96793863c39/crp_Surf-Surfer-magazine-Surfing-Van-Bastolear-Alec-Cooke-Shaun-Tomson-Bruce-Jenkins.jpg)
A Few Things We Got Horribly Wrong
You don’t make 60 years of magazines without dropping some balls. Here are a few
![THE LGBTQ+ WAVE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3286/528033/5f968184a4490/crp_THE-LGBTQ-WAVE.jpg)
THE LGBTQ+ WAVE
Surf culture has a long history of marginalizing the LGBTQ+ community, but a new generation of queer surfers is working to change that
![For Generations to Come](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3286/528033/5f967a295dba9/crp_For-Generations-to-Come.jpg)
For Generations to Come
Rockaway’s Lou Harris is spreading the stoke to Black youth and leading surfers in paddling out for racial justice
![Christina Koch, 41](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3286/528033/5f9677693e123/crp_Christina-Koch-41.jpg)
Christina Koch, 41
Texas surfer, NASA astronaut, record holder for the longest continuous spaceflight by a woman
![END TIMES FOR PRO SURFING](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3286/528033/5f967cfb4de81/crp_END-TIMES-FOR-PRO-SURFING.jpg)
END TIMES FOR PRO SURFING
By the time the pandemic is done reshaping the world, will the World Tour still have a place in it?
![CHANGING OF THE GUARD](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3286/528033/5f9685c8e114e/crp_CHANGING-OF-THE-GUARD.jpg)
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
After decades of exclusive access to Hollister Ranch, the most coveted stretch of California coast is finally going public
![What They Don't Tell You](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3286/528033/5f968d517a7e1/crp_What-They-Dont-Tell-You.jpg)
What They Don't Tell You
How does becoming a mother affect your surfing life?
Four Things to Make You Feel A Little Less Shitty About Everything
Helpful reminders for the quarantine era
![The Art of Being Seen](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3286/452927/5ebe97584a827/crp_The-Art-of-Being-Seen.jpg)
The Art of Being Seen
How a group of black women are finding creative ways to make diversity in surfing more visible