Mengejar Ombak aka Chasing Waves (2010)

Winner of the ‘Best Emerging Filmmaker’ (for Dave Arnold and Tyrone Lebon) and the ‘Best Original Score’ Awards at the prestigious X-Dance Film Festival 2009, Utah, USA.

Mengejar Ombak is a documentary feature that offers a close and personal insight into the life of a young and very talented Indonesian surfer, Dede Suryana. The film follows Dede as he embarks on his first serious season on the World Qualifying Series (WQS) – where he has been touted to become the first Asian to qualify for the World Championship Tour (WCT). This upcoming season will be the most important point in Dede’s career to date; will he obtain the results he desires? Or will Dede be temped to walk away from the money and focus on his true passion of free-surfing?

Opening in Dede’s hometown of Cimaja, a small fishing village in South-West Java, the film follows Dede as he travels across 3 continents and explores the dualities that exist within Dede’s life; a Muslim from a disciplined and traditional background, a pro-surfer sponsored by a large American company, an outsider in the predominantly Hindu Island of Bali, and a young man very recently exposed to the Western world.

These many, often conflicting parts of Dede’s life, challenge his belief system, and force him to constantly define his identity. How will he respond to new places and cultures, the volatile situation in Indonesia, financial gain and the growing attention he receives?

Mengejar Ombak is not merely a simplistic portrayal of good time travel or competition with winners and losers, nor is it a naive tale of small-town heroes against the villains of globalisation. Rather it is an insight into the life of a young man, trying to assimilate the challenges to his faith and identity, a personal journey that gives us a wider vision of the many changes occurring in developing countries today.