Educational Media Reviews Online

There has been a growing conversation in the United States related to African Americans and their “place” in the natural world (see Christian Copper, the “Central Park Birder”). Wade in the Water is a wonderfully directed treatise on how African American are reclaiming their relationship with surfing specifically, and the water in general. It outlines the challenges and successes of their return to the water. The documentary starts with the traditional costal cultures of Atlantic Africa (which included surfing), through to the slave trade and their forcible removal from this tradition. It continues with accounts of the systematic segregation and racism of California in the early 20th century which removed African Americans from the “beach culture” that was growing in the United States at the time. It ends though with hope and optimism, profiling current organizations and community groups that are spearheading the movement to diversify surfing and make it a positive space for people of color. The majority of the documentary focuses on areas of California, like Santa Monica, Los Angeles, and Huntingdon beach, but the surfers interviewed represent individuals from across the country and world, reinforcing the universality of the specific California examples highlighted.

The documentary interviews a variety of contemporary surfers and historians and introduces historical figures who are important waypoints in the narrative. The number of names and organizations featured in the documentary, along with its rather fast-paced production, may make it hard for an audience to keep individuals straight in their minds. The importance though, and impact, is not necessarily in their individual experiences but in the sheer number of folks who have a part in this story, and whose stories have not been told to a wide audience. The documentary presents the variety and rich experiences of their relationship to surfing, and the beach in general. It is not homogenous, but though each of them came to surfing in a unique way, they all grew to have the same love of the sport. And, they all have a passion to build a welcoming community to make surfing even more accessible.

Wade in the Water is highly recommended, as an important artifact of American Culture’s continued reckoning of its racist past, and a celebration of the triumph of African Americans reclaiming their heritage of the ocean, beach, and surfing.

Awards:
Anthem Awards, Gold Winner; Pan African Film Festival, Best First Feature Documentary; Sofia Art Film Awards, Best Quarantine Film; Mannheim Arts and Film Festival, Best Culture Film; The Telly Awards, Silver Winner, Documentary: Short Form / Social Impact; Anatolia International Film Festival, Best Feature Documentary; SacTown Movie Buffs Film Festival, Best Feature Documentary; Ericeira Portuguese Surf Film Festival, Film of the Year

Published and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Anyone can use these reviews, so long as they comply with the terms of the license.