OOriginally from Aytré, near La Rochelle, Romain Juchereau made his second film dedicated to surfing in 2024: “Some like it classic”. For several years, the director traveled from France to the United States via Mexico to shoot this documentary film on surfing. This one has the particularity of having been filmed with a period camera, in 16 millimeter format, as in the 1960s.
Can you tell us about your journey?
I have been a surfer since the age of 14, I started practicing on long boards in Oléron, Ré and Vendée. When I was 20, I traveled and went to Australia, where I surfed a lot and met surfboard makers or well-known people in the industry. I then worked in Saint-Jean-de-Luz for five seasons, made trips to Indonesia and Costa Rica before going to live in English Cornwall from 2010 to 2013. I discovered an artistic community there and many surfers and film photographers. I made my first documentary film « Behind the Tide” (currently on Netflix) featuring profiles of artists and surfboard makers. This first film (2015) generated views and royalties and allowed me to fulfill my dream as a film enthusiast: to make a film entirely in 16 mm format.
Romain Juchereau filmed his shots with a camera dating from the 1960s.
Romain Juchereau
How did you go about making this second film?
I bought Kodak film and vintage cameras and lenses. I started shooting in Biarritz with surfing friends then sent my first rolls of film to Cinelab in London, one of the best film developing laboratories in Europe. When I received the first images, I was amazed, I had goosebumps. I wanted to make a film about the origins of longboarding and hotdogging [ce terme définit la nouvelle manière de surfer qu’ont eu les surfeurs, à la fin des années 1930, avec des planches leur permettant de pivoter et de suivre le déferlement de la vague, NDLR]. The film is based on the period from 1940 to 1960, when one could turn the board and do maneuvers. I tried to take inspiration from Bruce Brown, the director of the film “The Endless Summer”, a reference in terms of surf films. Filming lasted seven years in California, Hawaii, Mexico and France.
Romain Juchereau
The documentary film was filmed on surf spots in France, California, Mexico and Hawaii.
Where did this passion for filmmaking come from?
My father taught me how to film with a camcorder when I was young. We also filmed ourselves with my friends surfing in Oléron, or skateboarding in La Rochelle. I made small edits of these films and it became a passion. I then worked at Mativi, a local web channel created by Jean Cressant in La Rochelle. I was a freelance independent director and I made institutional films. This experience helped me to have a framework, to work on sound, interviews, editing… I also produced my films independently. I wanted to combine this with my passion for surfing and its history.
Romain Juchereau
The images take viewers back to the United States of the 1960s.
How do you manage to recreate the 1960s in your film?
My goal was for this film to be shown in theaters so that people could immerse themselves in those years. I wanted a good surf movie to watch with popcorn, vintage boards, vintage cars, jazz music. Surfer Randy Rarick, a fan of old surfboards, gave me some for the shoot and I also had a wooden model made, identical to those used for surfing in those years. It was a golden era where there was a little flaming, but during which people had no worries and lived in the moment. I also contacted “The Endless Summer 2” actor Robert Wingnut Weaver to do the narration. He is world famous, he is a surfing legend. He recorded the script in a studio in Santa Cruz and did it to me for free, it was fabulous.
Romain Juchereau
Passionate about old cars, Romain Juchereau wanted to give them a place in his film, in order to recall the context of the 1960s.
Did your film have a resounding response?
The film was released in June 2024 with a world premiere in Santa Barbara, California. I found myself in a California theater with 500 people who came to watch the film. It attracted a lot of people, especially because the film was partly shot in California. I had around forty screenings in cinemas, in France, Australia and the United States. It won the Best Soundtrack Award at the Portuguese Surfing Festival (Portugal) and the Special Jury Mention at the Jersey Island Film Festival. My film will be released on DVD in 2025 and I now have to bring it to the whole world.
The film will be broadcast on Tuesday January 14, at 8 p.m. at the Le Dragon cinema, in La Rochelle, in the presence of Romain Juchereau.
