Minds In The Water

(USA, 2011, 85 mins)

Executive Producer: Justin Krumb, Jonny Vasic, Milan Vasic
Producer: Justin Krumb, Jonny Vasic, Dave Rastovich
Screenwriter: Steve Barilotti
Editor: Justin Krumb, Troy Page
Featuring: Dave Rastovich, Howie Cooke, Chris Del Moro, Hannah Fraser

Not Yet Rated

Surfing is simply a form of good, clean exercise. Not.

Perhaps because the surfing life requires repeated baptisms in the ancestral sea, dedicated surfers tend to become spiritual, conscience-stricken, and deeply concerned about the ocean and about the surfers of other species—that is, the dolphins and whales, the cetaceans.

Such an awakening hit Aussie surfer "Rasta" Dave Rastovich when he was about to get chomped by a tiger shark and a dolphin deflected the attacker with a calculated "t-bone" maneuver. He calls that "a confirmation letter from the universe." And Rasta has been returning the favor ever since. This gorgeous surfing film documents the successes of this waterman and his conscientious human friends over the past five years as they have fought for the cetaceans and the marine environment.

The story covers a consciousness-raising voyage called "Transparency" down the eastern coast of Australia. It meets with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, whose captain paraphrases a famous comment: "One person can change the world; that's the only thing that ever has." Then a dolphin-saving posse heads to Taiji, Japan, to thwart the slaughter depicted in the recent Academy-Award-winning film The Cove. At every turn this celebratory film captures liquid excitement in Australia, the Galapagos, Chile, Tonga, California, and Japan.

With surfboard in hand, you become a caretaker of coastlines and defender of dolphins. No question about that.

- PW

Sponsored by MEDISpa Maui

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