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Surf Film Debuts At Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Written by Sara Bush
Written by Amanda Howard

Story Created: Feb 1, 2012 at 7:49 AM PDT

Story Updated: Feb 1, 2012 at 10:01 PM PDT

Santa Barbara native, Adam Pesce, never thought he'd make a movie, let alone an award-winning documentary. A film course in college sparked his interest, and he decided to give it a try.

Dozens of people packed the Arlington Theater Tuesday night to watch the Santa Barbara premier of “Splinters,” Pesce’s passion project.

“'Splinters' came out of a love for surfing that I have.”

Leaving the comforts of home, Pesce decided to journey to a remote village in Papua New Guinea, where he'd read the people had picked up the sport of surfing.

“ It seemed like a really interesting place to go and explore. That was the genesis of the film.”

Armed with just his camera, he lived with and filmed the villagers for nine months.

“There was no running water, I got malaria a few times.”

He eventually learned to speak their language.

“What was really fantastic was that we were all surfers and so that was the most incredible way to get to know someone was by going surfing with them.”

Pesce followed four surfers as they prepared for their first competition.

After returning home, it took him a few years to put the film together. Now that it is finished, he is excited to show it to the world.

“Splinters” premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York last year. It has since won several awards.

“Its been really heart-warming, and my next goal is to take the film back to Papua New Guinea and show it in Vanimo village, and that's on the horizon.”
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