There are no palm trees and surfing in a bikini is not recommended here. But the stoke is on such a high level that the water temperatures don’t really matter.
Cold Hawaii Film Festival is an annual Danish event that celebrates Scandinavian surf culture. Its main activity is a unique surf movie competition, which attracts surfers and movie makers from all of northern Europe.
Why is it unique? All Surf footage has to be recorded in Scandinavia. All filming must be done in the winter period (November- April). Movies have to be focused on surf or stand up paddling. And all the films should have a premiere at the Cold Hawaii Film Festival
In this way, every year, we receive movies that are usually created for this specific event. They’re movies that reflect an individual’s relationship with surfing, differing from each other in so many ways but at the same time show the same story of passion, even if the water is so cold here.
This year’s edition took place May 4 and 5, surprising the organizers and spectators with the creativity of its competitors. There were seven movies competing in the final and each was judged in four categories:
-Storyline and entertainment
-The level of surfing
-Editing and technical quality of the final film
-Spectator’s choice (measured at the finals)
“Arctic January” by Hallvard Kolltveit and Jonathan Strömberg won the festival’s highest award. The film tells a story of passion and dedication with the beautiful scenery of Lofoten (Norway) and a great performance by Danish surfer Oliver Hartkopp.
Even though “Arctic January” got the highest score from judges, “Blue Water” by 11-year-old Oliver Bergmann stole the hearts of the crowd. “Blue Water” is an animated movie that took the young Oli around two weeks and thousands of photos to make with his phone.
Third prize went to Mor Meluka and his movie “På Beløbet” (“On the amount”). The movie shows a true story of a couple that decided to cancel their trip to Tahiti in order to stay home in freezing Klitmøller and prepare for the opening of their local café. The movie is a documentation of amazing surf conditions the North Sea have delivered last winter to Denmark.
