UOW students make waves with Sandon Point documentary

Four UOW screen media students have made a splash online with their documentary about surfing localism.

‘Surfing Sandon’, which confronts gatekeeping at the infamous Bulli break, has attracted more than 13,000 views on YouTube, while its Instagram trailer has garnered more than 120,000.

“We knew the concept had legs, but we didn’t expect it to be so popular,” director Lachie Carpenter told me.

“When the trailer ticked over 5,000 views, I was texting these guys, freaking out. There was still another 100,000 to go.”

Mr Carpenter, who moved from Albury to Wollongong last year, pitched the idea in his BCM217 documentary class after hearing about the beloved headland’s complicated attitudes.

Sandon Point is where a notorious sign reading “Locals only – Blow-ins not welcome” was erected in 2023, which attracted widespread condemnation from the wider community.

The sign was not an expression of frustration from one fringe local. It’s a highly contested break, with a historically protective community valuing strong surf etiquette.

With this in mind, and after hearing the perspective of respected Sandon surfer Ben ‘Rubber Man’ Anderson, the film documents Mr Carpenter’s mission to ride its waves as an obvious amateur, hopefully without confrontation.

Premiering in June, cinematographer Taj Patton recalls seeing comments from surfers in Newcastle and Moruya resonating with their project.

Unsurprisingly however, many Sandon locals caught wind of the film, and left negative feedback saying that the additional publicity would make the spot even more overcrowded.

“People were having full debates in the comment section, and that's something that we chose to keep our noses out of,” animator Amelia Quirk said.

Mr Carpenter affirmed it wasn’t their intention to call out Sandon surfers who kept to themselves.

“It's a documentary about localism… I'm not sure if that would necessarily attract more people to the beach because of that,” he said.

“I'm sure most of us would be aware Sandon Point exists already,” Mr Patton added.

Cinematographer Llana Mason, from a small beach town herself, didn’t agree that their film would cause such problems for Sandon locals.

“Of course you want to protect your little pocket of paradise… you don't trust those people to care for the place like you do,” she said.

“But some of it comes from classism… for the people that live there, it's not actually their land either.”

The four were surprised to learn about the history of Sandon Point, particularly the existence of a massive pole protruding from the ocean floor — an obstacle for only experienced surfers to brave — until they were removed in the mid-80s. 

Proponents of keeping Sandon Point private argue that the sheer difficulty of the break means young surfers should stay away from the dramatic coastline entirely.

In his appearance, Mr Anderson warns that many have died surfing Sandon, and speaks of the importance of maintaining a pecking order to please the dedicated community.

Owing to the feedback he’s received from northern Illawarra surfers, Mr Carpenter said it would be a long time before he visited, let alone paddled out at Sandon again.

“Maybe I need to grow out my beard… and put on some glasses.”

‘Surfing Sandon: Because Public Beaches are Public’ is available to watch on YouTube now.