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First All Women’s Film Festival Hits So Cal

February 27, 2012 by Shelby Stanger

The first all women’s surf film festival took place this past weekend in La Jolla, Calif.

Presented by the San Diego Surf Ladies, The Board Shorts Film Festival featured a series of one to fifteen minute films as well as a small exhibition with brands like The Seea and artist Susan Wickstrand.

The brainchild of the San Diego Surf Ladies, a club of females who get together and surf in San Diego, the group was inspired by their annual speakers series. Every year at their annual party, guests like pro longboarder Cori Schumacher and Jetty Girl Magazine Editor Chris Grant speak about women’s surfing and the struggles of the sport for females.

Wanting to do something on a larger scale, the Board Shorts Film Festival was born. The first year featured films from new and seasoned SoCal filmmakers Pierce Kavanagh, Haley Gordon, Michael Weybret, Chris Grant, Erin Wood and more.
Photo by Chris Clark, Shaper Studios

“It’s always tough to get people to women’s surf events,” said Elizabeth Bradshaw, a member of the SD Surf Ladies and curator at the LOFT at UCSD where the event was held. “The positive response since we announced the event in January has been overwhelming,” Bradshaw added.

The show sold out immediately. Since January, Bradshaw has received calls from across the country– in Texas and along the East Coast– wanting her to take the festival on the road.

SD Surf Ladies President Michelle Ocampo (Photo by Verb TV)

The event was typical of a surf flick — lots of hooting and hollering. Yet the tenor was higher-pitched from a predominately female audience.

The subjects featured in the films were also much more empowering than in the typical women’s surf film. There was more surfing, fewer tiny bikinis, and plenty of unfiltered honesty about what it means to be a female surfer.

As for next year, “Yep, we are definitely doing it again,” said Bradshaw. “We just might have to plan it around a full moon and organize a midnight surf after next year’s event.”

Check out some of the movies here: