Aaron Lieber scooped the grand prize at the second REDirect Surf Film Festival with his short THE WILD, which shows 15-year-old surf wunderkind Noah Beschen doing what he does best.
The beautifully shot film follows Noah through a dense forest, showing off Hawaii’s naturally awe-inspiring landscapes and then into the sea. Watching Noah run through the forest, float in the water and get within touching distance of a massive turtle is enough to make anyone question why they’re not out in the water. Like, right now!
THE WILD rests on more than Noah’s undoubted skill as a surfer, though. Lieber has managed to capture how raw and natural surfing is to his subject; he glides effortlessly over the water, spins with absolute ease and looks as comfortable riding a crest as he does running up through the winding jungle paths.
As a reward, RED, who partnered the event with Surfer Magazine, gave Lieber a ton of camera gear ideal for shooting surfing.
David Malcolm placed as Lieber’s runner-up for his film Los Zapatos with Eric Knutson rounding off the top three as well as taking home the Fan Favourite award for Being A Surfer Is Fun.
Check out more from the RED x Surfer Magazine REDirect Surf Film Festival.
Latest on Huck
Exploring the impact of colonialism on Australia’s Indigenous communities
New exhibition, ‘Under a Southern Star: Identity and Environment in Australian Photography’ interrogates the use of photography as a tool of objectification and subjugation.
Written by: Miss Rosen
My sister disappeared when we were children. Years later, I retraced her footsteps
After a car crash that saw Magnum photographer Lindokuhle Sobekwa hospitalised, his sister ran away from their home in South Africa. His new photobook, I Carry Her Photo With Me, documents his journey in search of her.
Written by: Lindokuhle Sobekwa
Inside New York City’s hedonistic 2000s skateboarding scene
New photobook, ‘Epicly Later’d’ is a lucid survey of the early naughties New York skate scene and its party culture.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Did we create a generation of prudes?
Has the crushing of ‘teen’ entertainment and our failure to represent the full breadth of adolescent experience produced generation Zzz? Emma Garland investigates.
Written by: Emma Garland
How to shoot the world’s most gruelling race
Photographer R. Perry Flowers documented the 2023 edition of the Winter Death Race and talked through the experience in Huck 81.
Written by: Josh Jones
An epic portrait of 20th Century America
‘Al Satterwhite: A Retrospective’ brings together scenes from this storied chapter of American life, when long form reportage was the hallmark of legacy media.
Written by: Miss Rosen