Saturday

UniBar, University of Wollongong 

Tickets: $15 at door, QUAY Wollongong and SWS Shellharbour.

Todd Barnes filmed the world's best bodyboarders while working as the director of photography during the 2011-2012 International Bodyboard Association tour.

No stranger to film-making, Barnes soon realised it would be the perfect opportunity to compile footage of free surfing rather than competition.

But he wasn't content with making an ordinary surf film that "just shows good bodyboarding".

After a conversation with bodyboarding legend Mike Stewart, Barnes was inspired to produce a film that juxtaposed the purity of surfing with the exponential growth of the human race and resulting litter.

"It reminds people of all the trash in the world, and then we've got surfing which is as pure a hobby you can get," Barnes says.

"I wanted to show we've got this great pasture of surf ... the escape the ocean gives."

Barnes, from Figtree, has worked on four previous films but says this is the first time he has pushed a concept.

"It's pretty emotional ... it's powerful," he says of the movie's opening scenes where Stewart discusses his thoughts on life on Earth, accompanied by visuals of modern society.

"He's such a deep thinker," Barnes says of Stewart.

Barnes grew up surfing and bodyboarding along the South Coast from the age of 12, with Minnamurra and Shellharbour among his favourite spots.

When he got his first camera at the age of 16, Barnes became hooked on filming at the beach.

Now 29, Barnes says he dismissed any thought of joining the pro circuit at an early age, but was eager to combine his passions of surfing and film.

"Bodyboarding is such a blank canvas when making a film," he says.

"You're not restricted to a script or actors and you can enjoy the freedom of it - there's not too many rules."

TRASH was shot in locations including Chile, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Samoa, the Canary Islands, Mexico and around Australia, featuring Stewart, Ben Player, Thomas Robinson and Mitch Rawlins.

Barnes spent the last six months of production editing for about 12 hours every day.

"If I'd be counting the plane tickets it'd be well over $50,000," he says of how much the film would have cost to make.

The Wollongong premiere of TRASH will be attended by big names in bodyboarding, including Ben Player, Mitch Rawlins, Thomas Robinson, Jake Stone, Tom Rigby, Joe Clarke and Jason Finlay.