The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle - so nannten die Sex Pistols eine 1978 veröffentlichte Mockumentary über ihre eigene Band. So viel Selbstironie wünscht man auch einem geplanten Filmprojekt, das im Moment durch alle internationalen Surfmedien geht: "SURF BERLIN - The Quest For The Lone German Wave", eine Doku des Amerikaners Ira Mowen über die Fährwelle in Warnemünde, nahe Rostock.
Ferrywave, 2008. Photo: Björn Bogatz
Aus den Eckpunkten "surf-starved Ami", "landlocked in Berlin" und der Entdeckung, dass es dann doch sowohl Surfer als auch Wellen in good old Germany gibt, könnte man ja eigentlich was Spannendes machen. Doch der Stoff reichte dem Regisseur, der mehrere Jahre in Berlin lebte, scheinbar nicht. Also erfand er kurzerhand seine eigene Legende, die die Realität an allen entscheidenden Stellen verbiegt oder ausblendet.
Nun mögen manche sagen, eine fantasievolle Story falle doch in die Kategorie "künstlerische Freiheit". Schon. Doch fängt die Freiheit, Fakten zu verdrehen, erst bei der künstlerischen Arbeit und nicht schon bei der Geldbeschaffung an.
Seit November 2014 bemüht sich der Kalifornier nämlich, mittels Kickstarter-Kampagne 40.000 US-Dollar einzusacken. Dabei helfen sollen ein paar Behauptungen, die für den Durchschnitts-Ami natürlich nicht zu prüfen sind - den Locals der Fährwelle allerdings mächtig auf den Sack gehen. Zahlreiche US-Medien übernahmen Ira's Claims, ohne zu recherchieren und riefen zur Unterstützung dieses "sensationellen" Projekts auf.
Beispiele: KORDUROY, THE INERTIA, BEACH GRIT
Doch wie sensationell fänden es die Spender und Unterstützer, wenn sie die Realität kennen würden? Wenn sie wüssten, dass Deutschland zwei Küsten besitzt, dass die Fährwelle in Warnemünde, also ca. 250 Kilometer von Berlin entfernt bricht, dass sie seit zehn Jahren gesurft wird und es zahlreiche Videos, Fotos und Artikel über sie gibt?
Versuche von Rostocker und Berliner Surfern, Ira Input zu geben und so auf die richtige Darstellung der Geschichte ihres Spots Einfluss zu nehmen, wurden vom Regisseur abgeblockt - kein Wunder, wäre seine Story dann doch nur halb so interessant.
Wir haben daher Ira Mowens wichtigste Claims, mit denen er die Einzigartigkeit seines Projekts hervorhebt, Locals und Filmemachern vorgelegt und sie gebeten, ihre Version der Geschichte dieser besonderen Welle zu erzählen - in englisch, damit alle Interessierten etwas davon haben.
Vytas Huth (Local)
Hannes Winter (Local, HW Shapes)
Felix Gänsicke (BINSURFEN CREW)
Dan Petermann (BINSURFEN CREW)
Christoph Leib (Filmemacher)
Joscha Jancke (été SURFSHOP, Berlin)
IRA MOWEN says:
"In a time when almost every surfable wave is surfed; one wave, in a land without an ocean, has been left un-ridden and un-documented. Its head-high celestial curve is formed by a giant ship passing by a shallow harbor sandbar outside Berlin. However, this unusual wave is almost impossible to catch, breaking big enough to surf about once a week, if that."
(www.surfberlin.com/ dec 1st 2014)
Ira's claim 1: The ferry wave at the entrance to the harbour has not been ridden before Ira tried it.
Hannes Winter (Local): That's wrong. I started surfing there in 2007/2008 - and I was not the first one. We saw Ira in 2012, asking us about the wave. The reason he noticed the wave was because people were already surfing it!
Dan Peterman (Local): I’m sorry Ira, as you may have realised by the surfers around you, Warnemünde and Rostock have a pretty vivid surf scene. Guys were surfing that wave already in the nineties.
Felix Gänsicke (Local): The wave has been ridden by so many different people. We (Binsurfen Team) are surfing the ferry wave for more than 5 years now!
Vytas Huth (Local): A lie. I’ve ridden and tried it since 2009. As far as I know, it’s been ridden at least 10 years before Ira came up with his project in winter 2012/2013.
Ira's claim 2: The ferry wave at the entrance to the harbour has not been documented before Ira started his film project.
Dan Peterman (Local): Once again I’m sorry pal, but there had been several Articles in magazines (for example: Surfers Magazine) and a even bigger number of clips.
Christoph Leib (Filmer): I filmed the wave a couple meters down the beach in 2011, here is the video.
Vytas Huth (Local): A lie. Although there is not much material to be found online, it has been documented (e. g. Surfers Mag). If it has not been documented the way Ira will do it remains to be seen until he finally decides to publish his fairy tale movie.
Ira's claim 3: The passing ships create a wave that surfers would describe as "head high".
Hannes Winter (Local): "Head high" seems a bit dramatic. Maybe for an 1.6m guy. If the ferrywave is big, it's chest high. Just sometimes, it becomes bigger in main season, but head high is uncommon.
Dan Peterman (Local): First of all it is only one type of ferry boat, going from Rostock to Gedser, which creates the wave. Depending on their schedule this could be every two hours. The wave isn’t always „head high“. Most of the surfable waves are more in the chest to knee high region. Sometimes however the sandbar next to the lighthouse can work really good and produce barreling head high peelers.
Felix Gänsicke (Local): There are several different breaks along the beachline of Warnemünde. The Jetty wave is really inconsistent but when it breaks, it can get the biggest. The next wave further in is in front of the casino which runs the most consistent I guess.
Ira's claim 4: This wave can be found close to Berlin.
Christoph Leib (Filmer): This wave is found in Warnemuende/ Rostock almost 250km drive from Berlin. By car it takes around 2 ½h to 3h.
Hannes Winter (Local): For me a 2.5 hours 250km trip by car is not close to Berlin. Yeah, sure it's easier to get attention in the US when using a popular city, but close to... Never!
Ira's claim 5: It's nearly impossible to catch the ferry wave at the entrance to the harbour.
Dan Peterman (Local): It is not. I would say there is at least a 1 out of 5 ratio, even if you're not the strongest paddler.
Felix Gänsicke (Local): Not true. You just have to read the sandbanks right. And you can see how fast the ferry comes in and how deep it is inside the water. So you really can consider whether going in or not, before the wave actually arrives. That it took Ira 200 sessions to stand up says more about his ability than about the wave itself.
The final say:
Joscha Jancke (été SURFSHOP, Berlin): It is sad that this beautiful looking project tries to raise awareness through misleading facts. It would be cool to see Ira turn the story into a fictional film about a mens dream wave. A wave never surfed, close to a metropolis. Just label it as such and we're fine!
- Jens Steffenhagen
