Wayne Lynch burst onto the Australian surfing scene in the 1960s and rode a wave like no one else. He opened up fresh possibilities with a radically new vertical style. He was a champion, a draft dodger, a hippie, an outsider, a revolutionary, a messiah, an environmentalist, a victim, a wild man, a pauper and an enigma. He tested himself against the big waves and produced something beautiful and exhilarating and elegant in the process. Directed by Craig Griffin, the film traces Lynch’s life story and was seen as a surfing prodigy as a teenager: considered by many to be the most progressive surfer in the world at the age of 16 and Griffin explains how it all came about.
Wayne is a notable media recluse, how did you convince him of the project?
It was kind of a long process getting him on board because he didn't really want to do it. I think the reason Wayne agreed to let me make the film was the fact that I've never been part of the surf industry, so that was an attractive quality that I had - probably one of the few. So he agreed to the film because I come from a completely different background, right outside the world of surfing.
And why was it you chose Wayne?
Well that goes back a long, long, long way. I grew up in Preston, Melbourne, which is a long way from the beach. I started surfing in 1974 when I was 14 or 15. I came from a world that was skinheads and toughies on the street and surfing was a lifeline for me — a way to get out of there. Pretty much from the first day I got a surfboard I totally bought into the surf culture of the time, I was an avid reader of Tracks, and the name that kept popping up was Wayne Lynch. I guess an interesting thing for me at that stage was Wayne was from Victoria and there were no famous surfers from Victoria apart from Wayne. I had a fascination with Wayne for a long, long time so when Kent from Whitetag introduced me to him in 2009 I guess he was about as far from what I expected him to be as possible...
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Why do you say that?
Well, because he was so down to earth, and so self-deprecating, and the butt of his own humour, and I thought this is no way for a legend to behave! He was nothing like the myth that I'd grown up with, but you know the more I got to know him the more I saw those elements — those elusive, slightly reclusive qualities — and you could see how those myths developed.
Do you think it's a film that might have appeal beyond the surfing audience?
Yes I do. Obviously the primary audience are surfers and people of my generation who've grown up with Wayne. I do believe the film can go a bit wider than that. I've already had the response from people outside of the surf industry who've watched the film and got a lot of it. They're very intrigued by it. They gained an insight into a world they thought they knew but really didn't.
Wayne Lynch will be making appearances at selected screenings of 'Uncharted Waters' – Dec 12, 7pm at Birch, Carroll & Coyle Pacific Fair and Dec 13, 7pm at Events Cinemas Indooropilly.
