Back in the 1970s, a time when film producer David Elfick recalls “the dole was called the surfing scholarship” the Palm Beach local made two iconic surf movies: Morning of the Earth and Crystal Voyager.
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The first, released in 1972, directed by Alby Falzon, from beachside Maroubra, inspired an entire generation of Australian surfers.
The second, made in collaboration with Californian George Greenough, ended up becoming the highest-grossing Australian surf film of its era, earning over $100,000 on its first release, followed by a six-month run in London.
David Elfick, founder of Tracks Magazine, at the Sydney Opera House where his surf film Crystal Voyager will screen 50 years, after its premiere. Credit: James Brickwood
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Both would become cult classics renowned for their seminal soundtracks, with Crystal Voyager filmed from the front of a surfboard to the accompaniment of 23 minutes of Pink Floyd.
But back in 1973, Elfick and Falzon – co-founders of surf magazine Tracks with northern beaches surfer John Witzig – wanted a wider local audience for their films. They set their sights on the soon-to-be-opened Sydney Opera House.
They recruited Witzig’s older brother Paul, a fellow surfer and architecture student who met Opera House architect Jørn Utzon on Palm Beach with his family. Utzon, a fan of surfing, helped him get an appointment with the general manager at the time, Frank Barnes.
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“I made a strong case that our surfing films were a very legitimate part of the Sydney cultural scene, and we deserved a place in the summer house calendar. Further, that the building existed not only for ancient opera lovers but also for the beach kids who would certainly love to come into those soaring sails,” said Witzig, who now lives in Brooms Head.
Barnes accepted the surfers’ arguments.
Crystal Voyager premiered at the Opera House in December 1973, and Morning of the Earth showed at the first surf festival there, too, in 1973.
