It is with great pleasure that we announce our partnership with Now Now Media, led by legends Alan van Gysen (AVG) and Will Bendix, on their latest film Le Jardin: The Secret Story of Morocco’s Most Incredible Wave.
The film is part of Now Now’s “Origin Series” where they examine the history of the world’s greatest waves and document all the chapters that came along ever since the first known surfers made the discovery. With Safi, that story begins with one man.
“While Anchor Point became the pride of Moroccan surfing, Safi remained hidden in plain sight. An industrial harbor town that sits halfway between Casablanca and Agadir and was known for its Sardines, not waves. Then, in the early 1980’s, a surfer from Casablanca, Louic Soutif, got a job working in the port. When he arrived at work one morning, he looked across the bay, and could hardly believe what he saw. He told his friends about the wave but they found it hard to believe…so he surfed it on his own for the next two years.”
When it’s on, all agree it is one of the best right-handers in the world, if not the best. The only thing is that it’s fickle, very fickle. Over the past few years, the miraculous wave also known as Ras Lafaa (The Head of the Snake), has only come to life a handful of times. Its reputation for perfection, along with good surf forecasting, has meant that it draws quite the crowd. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves…
Amine Nader
The name Le Jardin (The Garden) was bestowed upon the wave to help keep it secret by the lucky few friends of Louic that surfed it for years to themselves. They used to rent a cheap house on the hill overlooking the wave and when one of their girlfriends came, she said, “the house is eh, ok, but look at the garden”, as she signaled to the view in front of the house.
With their secret name, they could talk about it openly and not give away the location but, slowly but surely, the word started to get out. Knowing that one day the whole world would know about the perfect wave at Safi, they felt the need to call in a “master”, someone who could come and really show what could be done.
Eric Chauche
That master was none other than Australian hellman, Ross Clarke Jones, who redefined what was possible at Safi by surfing the wave farther up the point than anyone had even seen. As he recalls, “We showed up in the dark and slept in a little tent right there on the cliff. In the morning I woke up and saw the best right-hander I’ve ever seen in my life. Better than Jbay, better than Kirra, better than everything.”
Eric Chauche
Le Jardin joins the Now Now Origin Series, alongside these other incredible films: Place of Thorns, The Story of Puerto Escondido. Chasing The Unicorn, A Mozambican Surf Story. Mirage, The Ever-Changing Story of Skeleton Bay. We caught up with AVG to hear about how he and Bendix approach their films.
“Well, coming from our perspective with Now Now Media, we find it super important to always work with local DPs, local filmers, and local talent. It’s crucial to the success of these collaborative projects where you’re bringing so many different things together–different eras, different decades–you really need to dig deep and work with the locals. Because you could never really know the full extent of things and I can only get so much content on one or two trips. I also don’t have that history with the place. So when you identify someone who is exceptionally talented and very connected like Edwin Morales in Puerto Escondido and Amine Nader in Morocco, they’ve been a part of the community for a long time, they have respect. They’ve paid their dues and the community loves to see them be recognized. When we do our local premieres, like in Puerto or Safi, the whole community comes out to support and they get to stand on the stage and know that the film was possible because of their efforts. They deserve to shine as directors of photography and co-producers of these stories.”
The surfing and storytelling make this a must watch film for all surfers, and even non surfers would appreciate the cinematography, soundtrack, and overall experience of Le Jardin. Do yourself a favor and go and subscribe to the Now Now Media page on Youtube and like, comment, and share their films to support these stories and the incredible effort that goes into them. PS- keep your eyes peeled for a very special US premiere that is the works.
Related: Watch: Everything You Wanted to Know About Puerto Escondido (And Why It’s In Trouble)