FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
David L. Brown, (415)468-7469
November 16,
2006
Of
Wind and Waves: The Life of Woody Brown
Premieres
throughout the Bay Area beginning Nov. 30
Of
Wind and Waves: The Life of Woody Brown, an award-winning
hour-long documentary on a 94-year-old legend in the worlds of surfing, sailing
and soaring, will
receive its Bay Area premiere at the Red Vic Movie House (1727 Haight Street in S.F.) on Thursday,
November 30, 2006. The
film will play at the Red Vic through Sunday, December 3rd, then will move to
the Rafael Film Center (1118
Fourth St. in San Rafael) for screening December 5th - 7th. Brisbane filmmaker,
David L. Brown (Surfing
for Life), will
attend all screenings for Q and A. His subject, Woody Brown, has not only
lived a life full of remarkable adventure and accomplishment - including inventing
the modern catamaran, setting world gliding records, and surfing Hawai'i's
25-foot surf in the early 1940s - but he has also done so with a kind of
selflessness and generosity that have made him a role model for three
generations of Hawaiians and virtually everyone who has met him.
Filmmaker
Brown states, ÒWoody is like a modern Thoreau on a surfboard, living in harmony
with the world around him, alive to the possibilities of each new day, and
following his own singular vision of how to be in the world.Ó The
documentary captures his unique blend of enthusiasm, wisdom, humor and
spirituality that have made him a truly inspirational figure. Born to great
wealth in New York City, Woody ran away from the life of privilege to become a
protŽgŽ of Lindbergh at age 16. The film portrays his journey to become a
world record glider pilot, surfing pioneer and inventor. It also depicts
the tragic death of Woody's first wife in childbirth which led to the painful
decision to let relatives adopt his two children.
Of
Wind and Waves
explores Woody's life in his own words and from the perspectives of his family
and friends who have shared his journey. Family members adding their
perspective include Woody's daughters, Mary Sue and Jennifer, his sons, William
and Jeffrey, and big wave surfing friends Wally Froiseth, Joe Quigg, Peter Cole
and Fred Van Dyke. Surfing superstars, Laird Hamilton and David Kalama, are
shown bonding with Woody and comparing Maui's big waves from the '40s with the
present. The film also features a remarkably rich archive of film and
photography from every stage of Woody's long life to complement coverage of his
contemporary life as an amazingly lively elder whose days are filled with
service, friendship, humor, compassion, spirituality, and, up to his 90th
birthday, frequent surfing.
Among
the high points of the film are Woody piloting a glider and skippering a
catamaran at age 92, his volunteering at Hale Makua Adult Day Health Center on
Maui, his tales of early big wave surfing, his story about his first experience
sailing on a double-hulled canoe and then deciding to build the first modern
one, and his poignant 2002 reunion with his 67-year-old son, Jeffrey and 75
year-old step-daughter, Jenny, whom he left in the care of relatives in 1939 to
embark for the South Pacific. There are also very humorous recollections
about Woody and ÒMaÓ Brown from Woody's daughter, Mary Sue, and granddaughter,
Nicole Bastian.
Of
Wind and Waves
provides a valuable cross-cultural portrait of the land, people and culture of
Hawai'i over the six and a half decade span of Woody's life there. While the
explosive economic growth of the islands has unquestionably undermined and
obscured many Hawaiian
traditions,
Woody Brown's story shows that the spirit of aloha remains very much alive.
Of
Wind and Waves
won the ÒInspiration AwardÓ at Mountainfilm in Telluride in May of 2006.
The 35-minute version won the ÒAudience Award for Best ShortÓ at the 2004 Maui
Film Festival.
Producer/
Director/ Co-Writer
David
L. Brown is an Emmy-nominated San Francisco documentary filmmaker who -- over a
35-year career -- has produced, written and directed over 80 productions and
nine broadcast documentaries on social, nuclear, health, environmental, aging,
peace and technology issues. His documentaries have received over 75
international awards (including two Emmy nominations) and have been broadcast
on PBS and in sixteen countries. They include:
á
The
Bridge So Far- A Suspense Story, an hour-long documentary on the wild and troubled
history of the new east span of the S.F. Oakland Bridge;
á
Surfing
for Life,
a 56- and 68-minute documentary (featuring Woody Brown) on older surfers as
models of healthy aging, that won Best Documentary and the Audience Award at the 1999 Hawaii
International Film Festival, among 20 other awards, and has been broadcast on
150 PBS stations;
á
Seniors
for Peace,
a 27-minute portrait of a remarkable group of senior peace activists that aired
on national PBS in 2004-2005;
á
Computer
Classes,
the 56-minute PBS documentary on teens and technology, the first episode in the
2-part Digital
Divide
series (funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting);
á
Bound
by the Wind,
an 58- and 88-minute documentary on the nuclear legacy which has won 18
international awards and has been broadcast on PBS, in Canada, England, France,
Spain and several other countries;
á
A
Question of Power,
a 58-minute documentary on the nuclear power controversy, narrated by Peter
Coyote, which received 16 awards and was broadcast twice on public television;
and
á
Free
Zone: Democracy Meets the Nuclear Threat, a 58-minute documentary on the international
nuclear free zone movement which received 13 awards and was broadcast on public
television and in several countries.
Brown
has produced three film festivals on nuclear and environmental issues and works
in the film industry as a producer, director, editor, cameraman, assistant
director and production manager. He has produced several films on the
elderly and his recent credits include work as producer/ director or cameraman
for Greenpeace USA, the BBC, NBC and CBS News and for several non-profit
organizations. He teaches documentary filmmaking at U.C. Berkeley
Extension and City College of San Francisco and History of Documentary at Film
Arts Foundation. His web site is www.DLBfilms.com. The Woody
Brown film site is www.ofwindandwaves.com.
Of
Wind and Waves
Credits:
Produced,
written and directed by David L. Brown
Videography
by Steven Baigel, David L. Brown, Vicente Franco and Judy Irving.
Edited
by David L. Brown, Steven Baigel, and Gina Librecht
Sound
recording by Jaime Kibben, Randy Mills
Narration
by Steve Pezman
Music
by Tom Disher, Sons of Hawai'i, Gabby Pahinui, Genoa Keawe, Ray Kane.