This is the trailer for a unique surf documentary that already came out, but does a great job showing a side of surfing that is seen nowhere else. The award-winning documentary is titled “Splinters” and captures the evolution of surfing by indigenous tribes in Papa New Guinea.
The title of the film comes from the makeshift surf boards that the natives ride called “splinters.” They are typically crudely shaped pieces of wood or the remains of old canoes. In the 1980’s a commercial pilot left behind a surfboard from one of his visits to a village in Papua New Guinea and from there a desire to surf like the pros infected many on the developing island. “Splinters” then shows a revolutionary Papua New Guinea surf competition, the inaugural nationals.
“To escape the poverty, a few surfers came to think of the boards as their vehicles out of Papua New Guinea. Placing top three in the first nationals would mean their own shot at competing in Australia and international contests, getting sent to faraway surf-spots to be photographed among the world’s best waves.” – UT San Diego