Here, You Are Welcome
The Shorties x Surfdome: Here, You Are Welcome // A film by Jem Talbot
A film celebrating Queer Surf Club, a community of LGBTQ+ surfers (and allies) from across the globe – connected by our identities and a love of the oceans. Here, You Are Welcome explores defying mainstream surf culture, queer joy and the relationship between queerness and the ocean.
Here you are welcome.
To run in to this home we found
Feet trusting enough to leave behind land
And line up with chosen family.
In this body of water.
Knowing we are enough
In our queer bodies
That brought us to the ocean.
Because with hands in salt water
We are connected to every other shore
Where people just like us
Are doing magical things just like this
Loving.
And daring
And exploring everywhere
And sharing. Everything.
And braving the elements.
And chosen families, with bonds thicker than blood
Finding that pure joy of surfing
And falling
And surfacing
And crawling back with aching bones
Aching for more tomorrow
Searching for the space and time
Where the wind, the moon, the tide and you all agree.
Before deciding that this is where we stand
Where we belong
Whether we stand or not
Cos when all these things bigger than yourself align,
It’s the best feeling in the world.
Cinematography: Matt Ham
LOVE SURF MOVIES? Check out all the longlisted entries to the 2021 Shorties short film contest presented by Surfdome >>> HERE <<< Support your favourites by watching, enjoying and sharing the entries & giving them a vote by clicking on the button or Twitter icon above. Voting is open until 6th November.
Head to our Shorties Instagram post >> HERE << and spread the stoke by letting us know which Shorties are your favourites.
The Shorties presented by Surfdome
Short films are a central pillar of modern surf culture, a creative outlet for sharing stories and inspiring stoke. Here at the London Surf / Film Festival we wanted to celebrate the short and give homegrown filmmaking talent a platform to bring their visions to the surf world so we established ‘The Shorties’. It has fast become one of the most prestigious short film competitions for surf filmmakers in the world.
While the main festival is a showcase for international filmmaking, The Shorties short film contest is open exclusively to filmmakers from or based in Britain and Ireland – from both leading lights and up and coming filmmakers. We showcase the very best short films entries on the big screen as part of the festival. These shortlisted films are eligible for two prestigious awards presented by Surfdome: Shortie of the Year and Emerging Talent. And this year, marking the 10th Anniversary we are delighted to announce a £1000 filmmaking fund for the winning Shorties entry*.
10th Edition London Surf / Film Festival x Vans hosted 2-4 December 2021 at Genesis Cinema. See you there!
FESTIVAL TICKETS will be going live very soon, you can get the inside line by signing up to our newsletter here >>> HERE
To see this year’s full line up of films, hit the LINK
*The shortlisted and winning Shorties entries are decided on by our esteemed viewing panel as well as by the wider surfing world… you! The public acts as one of our 10 jury members. You can vote for as many different films as you like, only one vote per film will be counted! Spread the surf movie love!