Pictured: Gabriel Medina (BRA) put on a spectacular show above the lip. Credit: WSL/ Masurel

Pictured: Italo Ferreira (BRA) put together a strong effort on the rail to advance into Round 3. Credit: WSL/ Poullenot

“It feels good to be back in France, surfing a rippable left and getting through that first heat,” said Medina. “We’ve had a really busy last few weeks with so many events but I feel fit and I’ve got a great board under my feet. It looks like conditions are going to be fun for this event.”

“It’s a bummer especially after doing some work for a whole week with no pain,” said Toledo. “After a freesurf yesterday I woke up this morning a little sore but I went out and tried my best in the heat. Unfortunately on my first wave I felt more pain, so I’m going to go see the doctors and see what’s going on.”

Pictured: Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) couldn't find enough sections to lay her powerful turns and will surf in the elimination round when the event resumes. Credit: WSL/ Masurel

“It’s a fun little puzzle you can’t really hear your scores out there and it’s just you and the ocean,” said Fitzgibbons. “All the girls are ripping so it great to get away with the win in this one and I’m happy I got a couple of waves.”

Pictured: Vahine Fierro (PYF) showed strong potential in her opening heat in Hossegor. Credit: WSL/ Masurel

Roxy Pro France Elimination Round (Round 2) Matchups:
HEAT 1: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) vs. Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) vs. Paige Hareb (NZL)
HEAT 2: Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) vs. Bronte Macaulay (AUS) vs. Silvana Lima (BRA)

Roxy Pro France Seeding Round (Round 1) Results:
HEAT 1: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 10.93 DEF. Brisa Hennessy (CRI) 9.70, Paige Hareb (NZL) 7.17
HEAT 2: Macy Callaghan (AUS) 11.10 DEF. Lakey Peterson (USA) 10.43, Bronte Macaulay (AUS) 9.90
HEAT 3: Vahine Fierro (FRA) 10.64 DEF. Carissa Moore (HAW) 10.00, Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) 8.34
HEAT 4: Keely Andrew (AUS) 12.20 DEF. Johanne Defay (FRA) 11.96, Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 11.80
HEAT 5: Caroline Marks (USA) 13.50 DEF. Coco Ho (HAW) 11.73, Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) 9.70
HEAT 6: Courtney Conlogue (USA) 12.10 DEF. Malia Manuel (HAW) 11.50, Silvana Lima (BRA) 11.47

Shot during the past winter in Arctic and North Atlantic waters, this sumptuously filmed tale focuses on Australian surfer Fraser Dovell's transition from the hard grind of the WSL Qualifying series to letting go of the dream and ‘getting a real job’.

Along with filmmaker Spencer Frost and photographer Guy Williment, he embarks on one last journey, to a far Corner of the Earth, to search for hollow slabs and reeling points in the wild beauty and treacherous solitude of the Arctic. Battling extremes of weather and close encounters with the majesty of nature, Fraser comes to a new appreciation of just what it means to be a surfer.

In advance of the highly anticipated world premiere of A Corner of the Earth at the 9th Annual London Surf / Film Festival on the 1Oth October (TICKETS HERE), CARVE caught up with filmmaker Spencer Frost to find out more about his project.

CARVE: Tell us about your filmmaking background and how this project came about?
SPENCER: I’ve been making films since I was a mini grom - it all started taking turns as filming each other surf - trying to make sponsor tapes, you know how it is, the full grom froth! But for a full time job I’d say it’s coming on 6 years now. I slowly started getting approached by people to make smaller business videos and now I’ve been lucky enough for work for Red Bull Media House, BBC Earth, BMW Motorad, Corona, The North Face and heaps of surf companies. This project sparked from a crazy desire Guy and myself had for years to go and explore and document the places shown in the film – cold water surf trips always seemed so appealing to me.  And I think visually they’re actually quite appealing to a lot of your everyday people watching from the safety of their couch as well, because it’s such a foreign concept for most people and way too far out of their comfort zones to even consider it. We asked around all the kind of profile surfers that we knew and Fraser jumped onboard with the project. We really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

CARVE: What was it that drew you guys to the cold north?
I’m still not entirely sure. Whenever I saw photos or films from up in the Arctic my mind was blown. After watching a few other cold water travel films Guy and myself made the plan to try to venture up there somehow - and that’s where the inspiration for the project started I think.  Snow covered mountains, icebergs and northern lights made it a pretty radical place to go on a surf trip, but that was the angle we were going for.
We approached a few surfers and companies initially and no one as really too keen, we’d never done a project like this and also never travelled to anywhere in the world nearly as wild as this.

CARVE: Some films really romanticise the freezing surf experience – and while your film shows it in a beautiful light, it also shows the other side – the painful mind numbing cold. Did the trip turn out as you expected? What were the high points and were there any low points?

We definitely didn't want to try sell a dream, but also not over dramatise it either. More just tell the honest truth about how it was, how we were feeling at the time. As much as you fantasise about running through snow fields to surf pumping point breaks surrounded by mountains with not a single person in sight - in reality it’s actually pretty gnarly, physically painful and can get really dangerous really quickly if you’re not careful. But in saying that, if this trip inspires some people to run as far away from their comfort zones as they can then I think we did our job.

There were so many things to take into account travelling to the Arctic in the middle of winter - stuff a bunch of guys coming from Australia really weren’t prepared for - like there was only 4-5 hours of light (on the sunny days). A lot of the roads and access to the waves were shut permanently due to too much snow, the weather can change in seconds and if you’re not careful it can get down to -20 degrees and 100km winds with no warning. These times made for some of the most testing, but also the best stories and memories we have of the whole trip. But you’ll have to watch the film to find out some more ha, ha.

In hindsight and looking back on the trip almost nothing we had organised went to plan. But I truly think we got so lucky on so many occasions (and really unlucky a lot as well). At the end of the day we somehow reached our overall goal and ended up making a full length film and a photo book, which we honestly didn't think we were going to pull off numerous times on the trip.

9th Annual London Surf / Film Festival x VANS  is hosted 9th – 12th  October 2019 at the iconic Regent St Cinema, presenting a carefully curated line up of the very best films from across the globe that represent the pinnacle of contemporary surfing right now! Accompanied by Q+A’s and ‘Audiences with…’ some of the world’s most exciting surfers and creatives it’s a celebration of the cream of cinematic surf culture

Check out the full line up for 2019 >> HERE.

Tickets are on sale now via the Regent Street Cinema  >> HERE

Jeremy Flores,Miky Picon,Kolohe Andino, Marc Lacomare, Arnaud Darrigade, Jordy Smith, Italo Ferreira, Griffin Colapinto, William Aliotti, Conner Coffin, Thomas Debierre, Vincent Duvignac, Marco Mignot, Thomas Esquillot test the Quiksilver Pro France comp bank. It is pumping!

The Argentinian brothers Julian and Joaquin Azulay, (Gauchos del Mar) have garnered a reputation as hardy, nomadic, waveriding adventurers. In their new thought-provoking documentary La Ola Sin Fronteras they go searching for waves in the remote and under-explored Falkland Islands, an often inhospitable and inaccessible archipelago of over seven hundred islands. They spend nearly two months immersed in the islands’ culture, searching for waves on foot, by 4×4 truck, on inter-island planes and sailboat. What they discover is a beautiful yet often bleak landscape, where the scars of the Falkland War are still visible, be it in the numerous minefields, the hillside graveyards or in society where memories of the Argentinian invasion are still vivid. They hope to make new friends and share waves – but can the shadow of the conflict be overcome?

In advance of the highly anticipated premiere of La Ola Sin Fronteras at the 9th Annual London Surf / Film Festival on the 12th October (Get your tickets here), CARVE caught up with brothers Julian and Joaquin to find out more about their project.

CARVE: Why did you want to make a film about the Falkland Islands?
We wanted to go and see the islands, meet the culture, how they live there and try to surf with two local brothers (the Moffats – the only local surfers) who, like us, where born after the 1982 conflict between Argentina and Great Britain.

CARVE: How did you prepare for the trip?
We know how the Patagonia region, (which is similar), can be so hard with storms as we explored the area in some previous expeditions, so we knew the weather was going to be the main obstacle in our search for waves. But we did not know how hard the logistics would be in the islands. Regarding farm entry permits, ferry and small airplanes coordination, few roads to the coast and the invisible but present prejudice of us being Argentineans. So, before flying we got the local government permit for filming and thought it was going to be best to ask for other permits in person, as the contact is different and people can see for real what are your intentions. Therefore, one door opened, another door and people helped us a lot and treated us great.

CARVE: What did you expect from the trip?
Expectations were low before going there as the Moffat brothers did not want to be part of the project. But we decided to go anyway and try in person to approach them and the local community, which was totally worth it and the expectations were fully over achieved. Also, we did not know much about the beauty of the islands, neither about the fauna and we got amazingly surprised.

CARVE: How long were you there?
We stayed for 50 days in the islands exploring by 4x4, on foot, on a sailboat and small airplane.

CARVE: How easy was it to find waves? How did the locals respond to you?
It was very difficult to find new waves. Too many islands, big potential of good waves, not clear forecasts, weather changing abruptly and we had no local information... so it took us a lot of exploring to score new waves.

CARVE: How did you guys feel when you were at the cemeteries and scenes of battles?
It is very hard to be there and imagine what people suffered and went through in a war. It was our first time to be in a war terrain (cemetery, battle field, minefields) and you can get a bit of the taste of what war can be. But I guess it is pretty far from the real experience of what those persons experienced. We think that everyone loses before, during and in the aftermath. Nothing positive can come out of a war.

CARVE: Did you feel that surfing has the power to heal differences?
We think that sports and nature have the power to heal differences and take themes into a different level. That was our learning during our stay in the islands.

CARVE: What did you take away from the trip and what do you hope people get from the film?
If we put issues on a human level, we are all the same and have no differences. The differences are social constructions of what they make us think and how we should think. At the end the expedition it was worth it and we think we could achieve the goal of constructing a bridge though surf and nature, in a natural and human way.

9th Annual London Surf / Film Festival x VANS  is hosted 9th – 12th October 2019 at the iconic Regent St Cinema, presenting a carefully curated line up of the very best films from across the globe that represent the pinnacle of contemporary surfing right now! Accompanied by Q+A’s and ‘Audiences with…’ some of the world’s most exciting surfers and creatives it’s a celebration of the cream of cinematic surf culture

Check out the full line up for 2019 >> HERE.
Tickets are on sale now via the Regent Street Cinema  >> HERE.