Jolyon Hoff’s You Should Have Been Here Yesterday is a nostalgic account of the early days of surfing in Australia and the indie film movement which accompanied it.
It’s a must-see for lovers of surfing and film nostalgia.
Most of its 81 minutes is taken up with beautiful shots of remote beaches and dashing young surfers, dating from the early days of the 1960s and 1970s.
If you have no interest in surfing, this is probably not the film for you.
We learn about surfing’s early history in Australia, when the surfers were young and free and felt they were part of something new.
Inspired by the heady thrill of challenging the big waves, the early pioneers headed off with their movie cameras in search of new surf beaches and a new way of life throughout Australia and overseas.
Those were the days when filmmakers had to focus their cameras manually and use light meters – a world away from today, where everything can be automatic.
There are many dramatic scenes of daring surfers tackling giant waves and heart-stopping shots of spectacular wipeouts.
As we watch the images we hear the voices of key figures of the day.
Hoff, a veteran documentary film-maker, spent five years finding, scanning and restoring 150 hours of lost 16mm footage of Australian and New Zealand surfing to make YSHBHY.
His work won’t be lost – The Surf Film Archive has been established to preserve this part of Australian film history.
You Should Have Been Here Yesterday is showing at Luna Leederville and Luna On SX.
Watch the trailer…
