1972, Directed by Albert (Albe) Falzon, 1 hr 20 mins, Australia, G
CAST: includes Stephen Cooney and Rusty Miller, plus Nat Young, Terry Fitzgerald, Michael Peterson, Gerry Lopez and others.
MUSIC: G. Wayne Thomas with others
PRODUCER: David Elfick, co-founder of Tracks magazine in 1970 with Falzon and John Witzig.
FALZON’S FILMS: include Crystal Voyager (filming and editing) and directing numerous documentaries about world cultures
We are so fortunate to have this documentary classic appearing on the big screen as part of OCEAN1, after its 2021 restoration. In the early 1970s, the intrepid Albe Falzon set out to make a beautiful movie about the ocean. Now available in 4K digital, Morning of the Earth (MOTE) is again as glorious as it was when it first appeared in film in cinemas in 1972.
A group of friends (Falzon, Cooney & Miller) seek surf and a lifestyle in harmony with nature across Australia, Bali and Hawaii. There’s plenty of spectacular surfing (which would influence Hollywood in films such as Point Break) and glimpses of what else they were doing at the time. But this is also a film about ideas and lifestyle, and ways of being in the environment that resonate as powerfully now as they did when the film first appeared.
With an iconic hit soundtrack, MOTE is an example of Australia’s own ‘pure cinema’ of captivating images and sounds. Bruce Isaacs
THANKS to Justin Misch, a US filmmaker who, after meeting Falzon, took responsibility for the restoration of MOTE and has facilitated this screening for OCEAN1. Find a documentary on Falzon’s filmmaking, and much else here.
We also thank the surf shops SOUTHERN MAN in Ulladulla and NATURAL NECESSITY in Gerringong for their help in bringing this movie to you.