Peel: The Peru Project

Wes Brown – 2005 – USA

Wes Brown, the grandson of filmmaker Bruce Brown, and son of Dana Brown, also a surf filmmaker, has made one of the better surf films in quite a while.  He uses the basic premise of Bruce’s The Endless Summer, the quintessential surfing film, by sending a few surfers in search of some great waves, in this case in Peru.  It rises above the level of travelogue by focusing on character, but it also takes great care to indulge a curiosity about the local culture and landscape.  Maybe not a masterpiece of the genre, but very good.