Surfer Dean Bowen (RIGHT) with filmmakers Cohan Banfield and Mark Brightwell at City Beach Picture: GREG ELLIS.
A still from RAW.
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The Wollongong-produced surf film RAW The Movie is riding the crest of a large wave after winning the best cinematography award at the New York Surf Film Festival.
The film's directors Cohan Banfield and Mark Brightwell said this week's accolade was a great boost for the film which is due for worldwide release this month.
"Cohan and I are absolutely over the moon with this result," Brightwell said yesterday.
"We began this film, our first ever feature, in 2010 and wanted to create a professional polished product. That's what we have done."
The 55-minute film starts on Wollongong beaches with Illawarra surfers and spreads across the world featuring current and former surfing professionals.
"Being nominated into the New York Surf Film Festival was a great opportunity to launch the US premiere of RAW The Movie only four days after the official world premiere here on home turf in Australia," Brightwell said.
"We have secured worldwide distribution through three major companies and are excited about the film's release in late October - early November through these avenues."
He said the film had also been selected in the London Surf Film Festival which begins today.
"We also have interest from Germany and Hawaii which is exciting.
"Industry professionals and media from all over the world have also contributed their kind words interpreting what RAW The Movie means to them."
He said the film took two years to make and its objective was always for audiences to be able to lose themselves in waves, experience different cultures and hear what the world's best had to say about their experiences.
After such a solid start to their movie-making career, Brightwell and Banfield are looking forward to further developing their skills using state-of-the-art high definition equipment on future projects.
A preview of the film and other information can be found at www.rawthemovie.com.