Children of the Sun

Children of the Sun will stir the happiest memories in any surfers life ... never to be forgotten fun filled days.

Children of the Sun, New Zealand, 1969

Producer/Director/Photography: Andrew McAlpine
Editors: Kelvin Peach & Andrew McAlpine
Narrated by Peter Telling
Featuring: Wayne Parkes, George Greenough, Bob McTavish, Russell Hughes & more
Original soundtrack by The Music Convention

DV (from 16mm original), 55 minutes, G

Children of the Sun will stir the happiest memories in any surfers life ... never to be forgotten fun filled days.
Filmed around the virgin coastline of New Zealand and the classic points of Northern Queensland Australia, this film is an amazing chronicle of a time now looked on as the golden years of surfing ... the styles and the beach scenes ... the cars, people, fashions ... surfing during the mid to late 60s ... the New Era!

"Children of the Sun is a beautiful Kodachrome document of the surfing scene in New Zealand from 1965-1967. Most of the surfing is at NZ hotspots like Piha, Raglan and Shipwrecks, but there’s also great footage from Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, from Caloundra right up to Noosa. The film, directed by Andrew McAlpine, features six-time NZ champion Wayne Parkes, Aussies Russell Hughes and Bob McTavish as well as American George Greenough, tearing up Moffat’s on his plastic spoon. With the exception of Greenough and some random bikini shots, the action is all longboarding — really well executed longboarding at that." - Coastal Survey

"Oz road trip 60's style. Bit of an antipodean Endless Summer we have here, full of empty waves, sunshine and period commentary. Will have you chuckling for sure with lines like 'Whoa let it all hang out'. Pretty un-pc and all the better for it, happy days and not a leash in sight. Some great shots of Greenough surfing and a view into the distant glory days when a perfect day was a perfect day. Keep on trucking Man.." - Fin Shack

Screenings: Children of the Sun screened during February 2011 as part of a Surf 'n' Sea season at the Film Archive