saltwater home

CLIENTS - SURFING WITH THE MOB, KOORI ROSE & JIRRIBITTI DREAMING

DIRECTOR, DOP, & EDITOR - ANDREW ROBINSON

DRONE AND BTS - DAVID ROGERS

PRODUCERS - ROBBIE TOWNSEND, TAMIKA TOWNSEND, EMMA STEWART

pRODUCING ASSITANCE - HIROMI MATSOUKA

Surfing with the Mob is a community-led program connecting First Nations young people with culture, language, and country through surfing.

Set along the coastline of the Far South Coast, the program creates space for young people to come together — to learn, to listen, and to reconnect. What begins in the water carries beyond it, building confidence, strengthening identity, and grounding a sense of belonging through shared experience on country.

Language and cultural knowledge sit at the heart of the program, guided by Elders and community leaders. These moments aren’t always loud — they happen in conversation, in rhythm, in the time spent together between waves.

As Emma Stewart reflects,

“Song is a sacred way for us to connect with how our old people shared knowledge, and help us in a contemporary way to carry on that knowledge.”

My approach was grounded in documentary. Observing where the action naturally unfolded, while guiding the rappers with a more traditional music video sensibility. Creating space for the young cast was central, allowing moments to emerge and building confidence in what they were expressing on screen.

The focus extended beyond surfing to the country itself, a sense of timeless belonging and connection.

Held wide and close in equal measure, the intention was to create something grounded in place — honest to the experience of being on country, and the connections formed within it.