Taking back the Waves

Taking Back the Waves’ portrays two world-class surfers and friends, Cass Collier en Ian Armstrong of Capetown, South-Africa. The documentary highlights how Cass’s skin color influenced his surfing at the height of apartheid. His father passed his enthusiasm for the sport on to his son and ignored the restrictions of apartheid as much as he could, but it was still difficult for Cass to get the recognition he deserved. With a lot of hard work, he ended up winning international awards and recognition. The images of surfers and high waves in the film are very impressive.

Social Interest

The two surfers grew up in two different societies in the same South Africa. Ian is white and always had access to the best beaches and waves. Cass, who was ‘colored’, was barred from those areas due to the color of his skin. After apartheid ended, those rules changed and now Cass is an inspiration for colored youth who want to develop their surfing talent. He and Ian now give surfing lessons in Cape Town.

Scenes

Introduction

Friends and world class surfers Cass Collier and Ian Armstrong are introduced. Several people share their memories of the two men surfing together at the height of Apartheid. While Collier and Armstrong considered each other friends, others classified them in different racial groups.
Background Cass Collier
Cass Collier talks about his youth and his background. He was born and raised in Capetown. His father inspired him to go surfing and protected him on the whites-only beaches. In this scene we also meet Cass’s father.
Muzemberg
Cass Collier’s father started his own swimming club and encouraged Cass to become a competitive swimmer. Ian Armstrong takes us back to the town where he grew up and where he bought his first surfboard. Furthermore, the three men comment on segregation measures such as whites-only beaches.
Nine Miles
Nine miles was the only beach where people of color were allowed to come and where Cass Collier’s father taught his son how to surf.
Scrapping Apartheid laws
Cass left South Africa to compete on the world tour for three years. During that same period changes occurred in the apartheid system, but despite the scrapping of segregation laws, the South African surfing team wasn’t as diverse as it looked.
First encouter at Kalk Bay
Cass and Ian met each other at Kalk Bay, a couple of miles from Muzemberg. The two surfers talk about the first times they saw each other and surfed together.
Friendly competitors
Ian and Cass are not only friends, they are also competitors, ambitious and they don’t like to lose.
Fearless
Neil Webster, surf filmmaker and photographer describes Cass and Ian as fearless surfers. They pushed up the level of performance for other surfers while also pushing their own limits.
Role model
This scene contains images of Cass surfing; practicing and competing. He is an inspiration for young (black) surfers. Cass wants to show the youth that if he can do it, they can also do it.
Teaching children
Cass and Ian now teach children how to surf. althoug much has changed, they experience the degree to which color still plays a role in selecting children for the teams.