BALLADE | Clovis Donizetti & Thomas Lodin
We all know winter in France feels quite long, right? Some of us get a thick wetsuit and warm coffee before morning surfs, others just take a plane and run away.
“Every winter for more than a decade now, I’ve been flying away from the cold winters to find warmer places. At first, my trips were mainly for surfing or competitions. This year, we visited our second home, Australia.” Clovis
One glider, a musical improvisation by Clovis and Thomas behind the lenses. The simple pleasure of sliding on long and warm waves of the southern hemisphere.
All pictures are from Thomas Lodin. This project has being supported by Oxbow
FLIGHT 566 TO BEIRUT
Adrien Toyon was born under shelling in a hospital basement north of Beirut during the civil war which once ravaged the peaceful and prosperous Lebanon. Actually, his real name is Adrien Khouery Toyon.
He moved to Reunion Island when he was four years old, where he learned to surf. But everytime he goes back to Lebanon it feels like home.
During a winter swell in the Mediterranean, Adrien and the crew from Wasted Talent went on a trip to Lebanon. Adrien wanted to surf a mythical slab near where he was born that had never been surfed called ‘Yours’.
So there they went, on the Flight 566 to Beirut, and stood at Lebanese passport control being asked by men with handsome moustaches and heavily braided shoulders as to their intentions.
Badung Strait - Oscar Valencia
We know Oscar for long time now. We saw each other in the beach everyday
when we were kids, and we followed his path through his snowboarding career
and video making.
After that, he focused in surfing, and since then he surprises us developing cool
projects with a unique taste and point of view.
He travelled to Keramas while all the WSL circus was happening and he
captured some moments from the free sessions. Maybe not what you are used to
see here, but definitely worth to watch the cool vibes and water angles from our
friend.
Desierto
“Desierto” means a huge area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life.
That’s maybe what Sr. Adrien Toyon was thinking about when he just receive a phone call
K - Hey Adrien…good swell on the way…we’ll going to Dessert Point.
A- Ok my man, never been there before so perfect !!!
Probably “Desierto” also means all the time that Adrien spent in 2 days to be there on time from France, quick call, quick swell and quick barrels.
Probably “Desierto” also means all the time that Adrien needed to wait to surf for his first time on that wave.
And also “Desierto” means Desert Point for us, not the easiest surf spot to go, not the easiest wave to predict, but probably the best wave on earth if you are looking for a long barrels and Sr. Adrien Toyon is already with you motivated like 14 years grom .
This is “Desierto” a short piece featuring Adrien Toyon on his first time at Dessert Point, Lombok.
Video by Kylian Castells
Surfing by Adrien
Printemps avec Margaux
The beginning of spring is not always determined by fixed calendar dates. The phenological definition of spring relates to biological indicators, such as the blossoming of a range of plant species and the special smell of soil that has reached the temperature for micro flora to flourish.
For us, surfers and ocean lovers, spring starts when days get longer, winter storms stop and classic longboard sessions come back.
This time, spring began a couple of weeks ago, when we met Margaux for a classic surf in Biarritz.
Beyond The Noise
Noah Lane is a great example of nomadic lifestyle. He left the warm waters of Gold Coast and replaced his boardshorts for wearing thick wetsuits on the cold waves of Ireland. He is humble, lives simply and never misses a great day of surfing.
We talked with him few weeks ago with the release of his latest film with Harrison Roach, directed by Andrew Kaineder.
DEFLOW: Hello Noah! How is everything going? It seems you’ve been busy with a new project, Beyond The Noise, right? Can you tell us more about it?
Noah: Yeah so Beyond the Noise is essentially an experimental surf film by my friend and director Andrew Kaineder who was kind enough to ask me to be involved. He got an incredible group of creative people along for the ride and created a 40 minute film that I think is a great representation of what I see in surfing.
Deflow: Watching the trailer, we couldn’t help thinking on the era we are living, surrounded by the technology industry. How did you get to the idea for the documentary?
Noah: It’s a lot of Andrew's personal vision on the world around us, our disconnection and separation from nature told through the medium of surfing. For me the idea resonated strongly and I felt that deeper, there was a sense of telling what I find in surfing- the elements of escapism and being in an uncontrollable environment. So often these days we construct haven's where we're removed or masters of the natural world so it's nice to see a depiction of the places where you can still feel like a small cog in a larger machine.
D:How long have you been filming? How many people are involved in the project?
N: The film was shot over about a 6 month period between November 2017 and April 2018. But for AK the whole process was much longer. The surfing part that I was involved in was the easy bit. But it wasn't without it's difficulties. AK broke his leg and tore ligaments in his ankle just a few weeks before he was scheduled to come to Ireland. At that point, too many wheels were in motion to postpone the start so he spent the first few weeks hobbling through muddy fields with all his kit in a moon boot. It ended in April when I tore all the ligaments in my knee and was put out of the water for 6 months. It was kind of bitter sweet- I hardly wanted to be injured but we had scored some incredible moments, weather and waves in the previous months and I needed a rest from surfing for a while.
As I mentioned earlier, there was an incredibly talented crew involved. Andrew headed the whole thing up. Along filming was Todd Barnes who worked on Ben Player's "Far North" together with Andrew. Harrison Roach joined me in the ocean surfing. Dan Crockett wrote some poignant words that make up the script. Joe Franklin did the completely original score with about 10 other musicians and Tim Wreyford was the colourist.
D: When and where we will be able to watch the full film? Which are the next dates of screening?
N: The first screening of the film was back in October at the London Surf Film Festival and shortly after we toured it through the UK with the support of Finisterre. It's since played at a number of film festivals and is set for an online release on iTunes in March.
D: if you would have to choose one reason why someone should watch this film, which one would it be?
N: It’s really hard to choose just one reason to watch the film but there are some parts that really stand out to me. The cinematography is compelling and really captures what Ireland and the North Atlantic is like during the winter. Andrew and Todd are both very skilled at their craft and it shows. It's beautiful and dark and more like the quality you would expect from a big budget film rather than a surf film. The music score is also something else. Joe created a soundtrack that's both original and unique not just in a surfing sense. I've watched it quite a few times now and every time, I still manage to hear something new in the composition.
It's completely immersive and I would suggest to anyone watching and wanting to experience the full package and hard work the guys put in- to do so in a dark room, on a decent sized screen, with the volume turned up.
Thanks mate!
Noah
Watch the teaser and full film here:
Beyond the Noise from Andrew Kaineder
Clovis around home (video)
We could sit here watching you surf for hours, Clovis.
On a short break from the winter swells, we met up with Clovis Donizetti for some classic sessions at Côte des Basques in Biarritz. With his own sound and style, Clovis showed us his ability to turn any wave into a unique dance.
We have always loved surfing for the freedom that it gives you and the lifestyle that it used to and still does represent. Styles and personalities that emerge from distant places and then connect in a little community of surf enthusiasts that are brought together through their love of the most basic aspect of surfing: having fun.
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Filmed and edited by Martxel Txintxurreta
Music: Gotta dance - Jimmy Giuffre
Supported by deflowsurf.com
One morning with Clovis and friends
When the cold winds of winter hit the classic buildings of Biarritz, takes away the summer eccentricity and leaves Biarritz quiet.
This is one of our favourite times of the year. Even when the days get shorter and the temperatures drop, feels good to be walking around the lonely streets, getting to know the people that live side by side peacefully on winter time.
In between winter swells, we went to visit and surf with Clovis Donizetti and his friend Thomas Lodin on the classic sand-bank of Côte des Basques.
Mornings are cold but, when the waves look like this, no one doubts on entering on the freezing waters running to be the first out there.
Deflow Music - Tarik Rahim
If you haven't met him yet, lets introduce you to Tarik Rahim. We know him for some years now, and we always have been interested by his artistic way of doing things. From helping his father at the family business crafting surfboards in Asturias, to compose his own music with his band Carisma.
Ah, and we can't forget his unique style of surfing different boards and having fun with any kind of waves.
We asked him a few questions and proposed him to create a little playlist to inaugurate our Spotify channel.
Deflow: How is it going?
Tarik: Hey, what’s up, all good around here
D: First of all, introduce yourself, tell us where you come from…
T: Conceptually Tarik Rahim is 20 years old, was born on a cold day of January in Asturias (Spain) but his parents are from the tropical and sunny Brazil and his grandfather was originally from Lebanon, so he is a quiet big combination of cultures that melts into surf (because his dad has been a shaper since the 70’s), music, drawing, photography and in general terms, using creativity in the ways he consider cool since he was little tiny punk.
D: Music, surfing, photography… where does this creativity come from?
T: That’s a little mystery still, but as far as I know, it came in a really natural way; I remember I used to look up for super sketchy websites where I could download music illegally when I was like 9 or something, and I also remember coming back from class when it was flat and just spending hours drawing God knows what in these small notebooks that I still keep and try to understand nowadays.
D: We have heard you have a music band too? How is that going?
T: Aaaaah man, for one side it’s been reeeeal good, getting to know a lot of different people, playing in a bunch of places, and specially having a lot of fun with the rest of the band, shout out to my boys Ivan(Pendejo), Ruben and Santi. But in the other hand it has been a bit busy for me managing it, manufacturing the cassettes, doing posters, looking up for gigs, etc, also tried to get the band on a label a month a go, sent like 50 emails but no one answers back even for saying no, so I guess it’s all about timing.
D: Which type of music you normally play? Planning to be on the MTV Ema’s someday? hahaha
T: For the band I mostly do like 60’s kinda garage rock, which I’m a super fan, but besides that back at home, I love playing some bossanova, funky, jazz chords, even a bit of flamenco I don’t know, I love to play other styles of music so I invite everyone to listen to my Soundcloud and if they want just give some feedback haha and about the EMA’s, yeah, why not, CARISMA would be stocked to do some twerking with Miley Cyrus hahaha
D: Ok, so now introduce us the little music recompilation you’ve done for us :)
T: Alright, maybe is a bit confusing for whoever listens to it because there are many different styles of music in that playlist, but there's one only thing they have in common, and that’s the energy and vibe every single song gives, not each of it has the same energy but they still transmit something, so I hope everyone finds it and enjoys it.
If the Playlist bellow is not visible, click here