Film This!
Written, Produced & Directed by Angelo Mei
A voyeuristic look into the life of a psychopathic surfer.
My relationship with Vince, the subject of this film, goes back about 10 years. I first saw Vince in a surf film titled “What’s Really Going Wrong,” by a company called …Lost Enterprises. This video was unlike any other at the time in that it focused on the dark side of surf culture, including drugs, alcohol, crowds and fallen idols. The filmmakers found Vince at a heavily populated surfing beach, ranting and raving about professional surfing. Exposing all of his insecurities, Vince battles with addiction and lifelong conflicts while bringing creative, innovated and self-proclaimed genius to the sport. The filmmakers let the scene breath for a lengthy 40 minutes, saturating us with sheer lunacy and forcing us to look at the Vince deep within all of our own surf egos. Most fascinating to me was the fact that Vince included himself with the legends that have graced this sport for the past 100 years, truly believing his contribution to modern surfing was as important as any other. Maybe it was.
This viewing motivated me to go to the company directly responsible for this video and find out more about them and Vince. I was immediately hired to go on assignment and shoot another interview with Vince for the company’s next film, “Lost Across America.” After several interviews, I began to develop a friendship with Vince, which continues to this day. While attending the Art Institute, I chose to direct a documentary focusing on how Vince had changed since our first meeting. The documentary is titled “Film This!” and combines archival footage with recent verite and interviews revealing a surprising character arc. “Film This!” is partly responsible for my current passion in documentary filmmaking.
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