Watch: Return To Zero

Return To Zero is a 16mm surf film by Amado Stachenfeld, filmed over the course of seven years.

It features Andrew Fletcher, Anna Gudauskas, Joey Bookout, Kassia Meador, Paul Takahashi, Kyle Kennelly, Troy Mothershead, Grant Noble, Demi Boelsteri and Trevor Gordon across 25 minutes of serene viewing pleasure. If anything Return To Zero is an ode to the little projects each of us has inside of us. Stories worth telling not because they’ll make us rich and famous but because of the simple joy they bring. After a successful premiere at Mollusk Santa Barbara, Return To Zero will be screened in Portland and New York, for an online release expected in the coming months. Or if you can’t wait, you can buy the book with a viewing code here. We highly recommend it. Here’s our chat with Amado.

Okay so 16mm film, what’s the reason behind that?

I guess I just wanted to be able to have a project where I could do whatever I wanted. I work on a lot of commercial projects, which is great business and I love doing that but just to do something purely because I wanted to be was pretty special. You look at artists who paint or photographers who take photos just for them and I wanted to explore what making a film would be like in a medium that I spend so much time in. 

16mm specifically is quite the format. Isn’t it super expensive?

Yeah, there’s definitely a little more planning that goes into it. I guess that comes down to the thing again about asking what I wanted to do, how I wanted to spend my time and on what medium. I have an affinity for the way film works. Being able to create some limitations because it was film was a cool part of the project.

Yeah. That's cool. all right, give us a little intro to the film.

Return To Zero is about the exploration of life, death and reincarnation using a surfboard to explore that. It stemmed from my friend who is the featured shaper in the film who had a board that had been shaped a bunch of times. It triggered a lot of my own interest in the idea of reincarnation. I wanted to explore how we could peel back a surfboard and create different shapes and experiences.

And the surfers in the film, were they filmed on a trip or in separate bits? 

No, the filming process was about seven years from start to finish.

Oh wow.

Yeah, it took forever. And the basis of the film is that we take an old 60s’ Hobie D fin and peel that into three different boards. So, off the bat, it's already been an elongated process where we filmed the longboard surfers and then and we filmed the midlengths then we filmed the shortboard. It stemmed from having a couple friends who are really good surfers and thinking about who would be the right fit for next board after it was reshaped.

Nice, so just getting surfers who you thought would surf the board the best.

Yeah. Through the process though, I realised how attached people are to their brands and their sponsors. It's their business, I get it, but sometimes I’d approach surfers who I knew would be a great fit and they’d be like I am really interested but I just can’t. 

Yeah, interesting point. I mean I don’t know too much about the business of making surf films but just from my experience working with surfers and skaters with Monster Children the T’s and Cs of brand stuff is pretty hectic these days.

Yeah, I guess going back ten years ago, making a surf film was the entity of the filmmaker. They would gather their funding and then just cherry pick their team right. But now I guess every brands like no if we're gonna do anything we'll just do it ourselves. 

Exactly. Do you still have the boards or who has them?

I have the last board it’s a 5’4 fish. It looks like a skimboard. I also have the peel of the original Hobie log.  

Is there a particular surf film growing up that you were inspired by?

I didn’t grow up not in the surf world at all. I was a skater and snowboarder. Surf was always pretty far-fetched because I lived so far away. I remember watching Andy Irons and Kelly footage from the late 90s’ but I don’t think it resonated with me because of how unobtainable it was, like how good they were. A lot of those films back then didn’t have those lifestyles segments to relate to them on, just pure surfing you know? The films that had the most influence on me as a filmer were the early 2000s’ Absinthe snow films. Thomas Campbell was the link to the surf world. Thicker Than Water another one that influenced my shift to surfing. And then it was the likes of Kai Neville. Lost Atlas. Wow. That definitely influenced my want to create something that was longer. And to create a book that goes with it because I like the physical item. An experience. 

Is that book just selects from the film?

The book is a mix of stills that I shot throughout the process alongside the filming. There's some shaping stuff and nice moments throughout. I wanted to print a book to house the film and be able to share it physically. The pages of this book have become a way for me to hand off the film to friends, family and hopefully many more.

What kind of surfing are you drawn to the most as a filmer?

When you see someone who's really good at what they do, you know, on a really critical place of the wave or doing a crazy manoeuvre that’s really enticing but at the end of the day, the thing I’m most interested in is style. You can’t put your finger on what it is either, it’s just magnetic. 

Do you have a favourite surfer or someone’s style that you are particularly drawn too? 

From this film I’d say Trevor Gordon. I think he's an incredible surfer, big high lines. Mikey February obviously. I actually saw him out surfing at Venice once and cold pitched him to be in the film (laughs). It was more of a brand thing why he couldn’t. Kassia on a longboard too. She’s just so much fun. There’s a shot in the film where she’s surfing this wave, then just flips around and rides it switch. Just blew my mind, watching her footwork she is just so connected. 

So you’ve got the film, the book and also vinyl?

Yeah the score of the film in vinyl by Gregory Rogove.

Going hard on the analog I love it. 

Yeah having a physical medium was really important to me, just being able to explore the things that I like myself. Each book has a film viewing code to give Return to Zero a physical home outside of our screenings.

When is the next screening?

The next screening is in Ventura. It looks like it will then be followed by a string of east coast screenings, tentatively Grain Surfboards in Portland and a New York screening to be confirmed.

Keep up to date with the details of Return To Zero here.