Ride the Wave

Taylor Steele is like the Quentin Tarantino of surf movies. In 1989 his first film, Seaside and Beyond, captured the California scene through a newbie’s lens, but since that initial foray, Steele’s cameras have traveled far beyond sleepy Seaside Reef. The Hawaiian pipeline scenes he captured in 1992’s Momentumchanged the face of surfing and helped cement Kelly Slater’s star status. Today Steele is regarded as one of the best directors of the action-driven, scenic genre. His latest flick, Sipping Jetstreams, takes viewers to Morocco, Japan, and Barbados on a quest for perfect waves. The film is regarded as his masterpiece.

“It’s great! Definitely not your average surf movie,” gushes TJ Marshall of the Surfrider Foundation South Florida Chapter. The eco-loving organization will be offering a screening of Steele’s latest work as a fundraiser for its environmental and community initiatives. “Sipping Jetstreamsisn’t just about the surfing, it’s about the culture. Surfers are like ambassadors for their countries, and for the sport,” Marshall explains. Local heroes will get a chance to enjoy their highlights on film afterward, when Surfrider screens footage from last winter’s Big Sunday, which Marshall describes as “one of the most epic surf days in recent memory.” Killer, dude!
Fri., Jan. 26, 8 p.m.