SHAPING WAVES, SHAPING WORLDS
OFFICIAL SELECTION | SHORT FILM SESSION
INCLUDES WORLD PREMIERE OF HAUS TUMBUNA + PANEL
TUESDAY 21 OCTOBER
STONE & WOOD BREWERY
SHAPING WAVES, SHAPING WORLDS - From remote coastlines to highland plateaus, this collection of cinematic stories explores our relationship with nature, culture, and the choices that shape both.
Whether it's crafting surfboards in Papua New Guinea using local materials, turning reclaimed timber into ocean-inspired art, or journeying deep into Iceland’s glacial heart, each film reflects a desire to live with greater intention and connection. These are stories of ecological care, cultural continuity, and community-minded creativity.
In a time of disruption - environmental, cultural, and personal - Shaping Waves, Shaping Worlds offers space to reflect on how we build, move, and belong. It's about finding new rhythms that honour the old, and choosing paths that sustain rather than disturb.
Featuring world premieres and stunning local works, this session is for the dreamers, the doers, and those listening closely to the land and sea.
Features a panel with the filmmakers
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BEEHIVES & BOTTOM TURNS
11 MIN | 2025 | DIRECTOR: BRAD COETZEE | PRODUCER: SARAH HALL, SURFERS FOR CLIMATE, LUKE JACOBSONS + COASTAL NECTAR | AUSTRALIA | NSW PREMIERE
Beehives and Bottomturns weaves together beekeeping, surfing, and the natural world through the eyes of local surfer and beekeeper Tom from Coastal Nectar. From riding waves to teaching primary school students, Tom shares his passion for bees and their vital role in our ecosystem. Set against the backdrop of the coast he calls home, the film captures the deep connection between pollinators, the ocean, and the rising climate.
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SPAGHETTI WEEK
14 MIN | 2025 | DIRECTOR: JOE MORGAN | PRODUCER: ELISA DE LIMA, JOE MORGAN + JOB VERPOORTE | PORTUGAL | AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Job “Jabalí” Verpoorte was a chemical engineer until he left it all behind to shape surfboards by hand.
His journey unfolds through the rhythms of wooden board making and the world that surrounds it -nature, surf, the ocean, and meaningful connections. Along the way, he grapples with the certainties and uncertainties of love, friendship, and life.
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FLOWING WOOD
10 MIN | 2025 | DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: JOEL BRYANT | SUFFOLK PARK | BYRON PREMIERE
A solo traveller, surfer, and artist from Northwest Australia, Dean creates striking aerial seascapes on wood using materials gathered from the beaches he visits. As he journeys along the coast, his process becomes a meditation on nature, solitude, and healing. After the loss of a close friend to a shark attack, Dean turned to art as therapy - finding comfort in the creative act. As he turns weathered wood into ocean-inspired art, the film reveals the beauty, challenges, and emotional depth of his creative process.
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A SILENT REBELLION
18 MIN | 2025 | DIRECTOR: DOM GOULD + KITALÉ WILSON | PRODUCER: DOM GOULD, JORDAN PEARSON, DR. GEOFF WILSON + KITALÉ WILSON | AUSTRALIA / ICELAND | WORLD PREMIERE
A rumination on the realities of a transforming world - offered as a realisation to nature's defiance. As future consumes past, a father and son embark on a journey into the remote Icelandic highlands and deep into the island's glacial heart. Their journey weaves fierce exploration and with intimate connection, invoking a commune with the slowly shifting landscapes as they feel the weight of ecological shift.
HAUS TUMBUNA
28 MIN | DIRECTOR: MATTY HANNON | PRODUCERS: NICKI WYNNYCHUK + BRYAN BATES | AUSTRALIA | WORLD PREMIERE
Haus Tumbuna is a poetic documentary from Matty Hannon (The Road to Patagonia) that honours the deep cultural history and sustainable future of Papua New Guinea’s ocean culture. Set in Madang, the film follows the creation of a self-sustaining surfboard factory - also named Haus Tumbuna - as a vehicle for cultural renewal, environmental awareness, and community empowerment.
In PNG, "Haus Tumbuna" refers to a spirit house, a place of heritage and ancestral connection. Naming the surfboard factory after it reflects the spiritual and traditional significance of surfing in this region, where coastal communities have practiced forms of body surfing for thousands of years using natural materials.
In recent decades, the arrival of fibreglass surfboards through surf tourism has shifted this culture. These boards are desirable but expensive, fragile, and toxic - creating dependence, waste, and disconnection. Haus Tumbuna is a response to that impact: a movement to build surfboards from local materials, shaped by local hands, and surfed by local people.
Through the stories of shapers Ben, Robin, and Peter, and surfers Jayway, Bernhard, and Ruthy, the film explores themes of self-sufficiency, decolonisation, and cultural survival. Rather than tell, the film shows - immersing viewers in a world of creative resistance, environmental care, and joyful ocean play.
Built on long-standing relationships between filmmakers and community, Haus Tumbuna is an invitation to tread lightly, to witness deeply, and to rethink what progress looks like. It is a powerful reminder that tradition and innovation can coexist - and that by honouring heritage, we can build a more sustainable and connected future.
SESSION TIME
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STONE & WOOD BREWERY
Tuesday 21 October 6 - 9:30 pm
