Since the Argentinian brothers Julian and Joaquin Azulay burst onto the big screen more than a decade ago, sharing big ideas and even bigger adventures, they’ve pushed the boundaries journeying to some of the planet’s least-explored locales, shining a spotlight on the often-fragile environments as they’ve gone. They have walked an inaccessible coastline in Patagonia, journeyed through the America’s on horseback and driven the length of Africa in a Unimog, but for their sixth expedition they are (quite literally) pushing the boat out even further – to the icy reaches of Antarctica.
Antarctica – Domain One has its UK Premiere as part of the 14th Edition London Surf / Film Festival on Friday 7th November. Multi award-winning filmmaker Joaquin Azulay will be there to present the film. Tickets available HERE:
Demi Taylor caught up with Joaquin to find out more about their latest adventure surfing the frigid fringes, surviving encounters with fur seals, icebergs and just how Kelly Slater cam to get involved with the project! .
You have had many adventures now – this seems your most epic. Why did you choose Antarctica?
JA – With our project Gauchos Del Mar we try to amplify the surfing frontiers in each expedition and Antarctica is one of the least explored places surf wise. Then we learned that scientists, NGOs and politicians are struggling to create more Marine Protected Areas there so it was the perfect fit for what we do. With the films we try to help out to amplify social, cultural and environmental causes, and try to make people get involved to create changes.
How long did the planning take and how did you assemble your team?
JA – The pre-production for the one month sailing expedition took +5 years and the post took 2 years or a bit longer. The expedition team was formed by Ezequiel Sundblad (captain), Santiago Sundblad (sailor), Marko Magister (DP), Sebastián Vereertbrugghen (camera and sound), Mike Veltman (camera and water shots), Julian and myself.
This film also leans into the environmental issues threatening this pristine environment. How did you decide who to focus on and which issues to cover?
JA – We tried to focus on the people that work for many years in this conservation cause. Sometimes this natural spaces do not have a major spotlight and they really need it. They need to be shown to bring awareness and protection.
With a previous film called Peninsula Mitre we showed a place that not many people knew but scientists, experts and professionals were working for many years before we did the film expedition. So the film ended up amplifying the work that others do and the necessity to protect this pristine area, we pushed a petition where more than 164.000 people signed, the local community got more involved and the politicians felt the pressure and understood the claim. Seven years later the area is protected forever.
This is the model we are trying to replicate with this film, but in a more complex situation as Antarctica is the only continent in the world that belongs to us all as humanity and is showcasing how the world is split in international policies and ideologies.
What was the most rewarding part of the trip and the most challenging part?
The most rewarding was able to go to Antarctica and visit this amazing continent. Then see what is going on there and last but not least being able to surf there. But hopefully the most regarding comes next and the film can help out a bit on the creation of this MPA.
And for sure they most challenging is to sail on those latitudes and support those storms, for sure the most intense we saw in our lives. Surf wise it is also very challenging because the weather windows are short and if you do not surf in the right moment, you might not surf again. It’s not easy at all to score in Antarctica.
The documentary is narrated by Kelly Slater. How did this come about?
We met Kelly in a previous trip in Africa and shared some days with him. Later on we contacted him again about this project and he got involved in the cause. He advocates for ocean health and protection. For us, we could not ask for anything else, to have him as the English narrator of the film is amazing. We come from Argentina, which is very far away and distant from the US industry and mainstream, and having him on board to put his voice for the cause we feel honored.
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The 14th Annual London Surf / Film Festival presented by Finisterre touches down 6-8 November at the iconic Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, London. The event brings to the UK the very best of international surf culture: showcasing 26 of the best very surf movies from across the globe including the cream of homegrown talent alongside a whole host of Q&A’s and a live podcast with Matt Barr from Looking Sideways, good times and more… you don’t want to miss this! Tickets & line up HERE:
