The More Things Change

LONDON PREMIERE LS/FF 2016: The More Things Change  Dir. Nathan Myers, 2016 (30 mins) 

Gerry Lopez first surfed Uluwatu in 1974. The fabled Balinese wave was pristine, magical, and empty. Gerry returned to Uluwatu 40 years later to find it bustling, developed, and a different scene.

The old dirt track out to the wave was now a road, filled with tourists, the white cliffs were now studded with stucco resorts, and the empty waves Gerry had surfed in 1974 were now full of surfers. He also found that the pristine local environment was straining to cope with the pressure of development.

But over the course of a week Gerry reconnected with the spirit of the place, and found that the more things change…

In the film, Gerry uses Uluwatu – and surfing – as a metaphor for change. Gerry’s message is that change is inevitable, and we should see it, accept it, live in the moment and positively guide that change. 

“Surfing is such a great metaphor for life,” says Gerry, “because out in the ocean everything is moving, I mean nothing holds still for you… everything is just in constant motion and life is really the same way. If you don’t move with it, life just passes you right by. So from surfing you learn a great and really wonderful lesson that you have to move with it, to be in the moment spontaneously and to go with the flow smoothly.”

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