Doors 7:30p
Program 8:00p

UnionDocs
352 Onderdonk Ave
Ridgewood, NY

Embark on a voyage of discovery at UnionDocs, with the North American premiere of Huw Wahl’s film, Wind, Tide & Oar (2024), and explore our relationship with nature through the art of engineless sailing.

Shot on a 1960’s hand-wound analogue camera, Wind, Tide & Oar fosters a dialogue between sailor, boat, and the elements, which addresses themes of ecology, sustainability, heritage, traditional skills, and maritime history, whilst journeying through the rivers, coastlines, and open seas of the UK, Netherlands, and France. Made over three years and meeting an array of traditional vessels, Wahl offers a poetic and intimate perspective on a millennia-old craft, which has been dwarfed by the invention of mechanized power.

Writer Sukhdev Sandhu, who will join us for a conversation following the film, shared that “like all Wahl’s work, it’s about breathing, freedom, being in the world. A gorgeously shot tone poem, it reveals life on the water, under shifting skies, as tactile, dream-like, improvisational. Here are old rhythms that feel thrillingly new. Imagination and intoxication. An antidote to skew-whiff modern life.”

Through the film’s reveries, sailing becomes a means to explore our interaction with, and responsibility to, the environment. It invites deep reflection on our relationship with nature, our understanding of and commitment to sustainability, and our care for the world around us.

The film screening will be followed by a conversation with Huw Wahl, Rose Ravetz, and Sukhdev Sandhu.

Come through!

Program

Wind, Tide and Oar (2024)

84 mins, 2024, UK/Netherlands/France
Super 16mm to 4K

Wind, Tide & Oar is a compelling exploration of engineless sailing, shot on analogue film over three years. The film delves into the experiences of those who travel solely by harnessing the natural elements alone, following a diverse array of traditional boats and uncovering the unique rhythms and motivations of engineless navigation.

Program Duration: 84 mins

Bios

Huw Wahl is an artist filmmaker born in London in 1985. His work has been screened internationally at film festivals such as CPH:DOX, Festival du nouveau cinéma and Open City Docs, in art galleries like Centre Pompidou Metz, the Bluecoat and the Whitworth, as well as in universities, social centers and at music festivals. Wahl’s work has been featured in magazines like Sight and Sound and The Wire, and received funding from organizations such as Arts Council England, The Henry Moore Foundation, and the Royal Photographic Society. He has also written in academic journals, magazines, given papers at conferences, and taught short film and photography courses in university and community settings.

Rose’s first sailing experience was crossing the Atlantic Ocean at age nineteen, having left home with a dream to travel. She spent four years on various ocean crossings and adventures, eventually reaching New Zealand, from where she then sailed back to Europe as a professional crew on the famous classic schooner, Atlantic. Since her return, she has worked professionally for sail-cargo initiatives and sail-training charities, and as a traditional rigger on museum ships including the Cutty Sark and HMS Gannet. She owns her 23ft engineless boat, Defiance, which she restored herself. Rose is now studying for a BA in Philosophy and Sustainability, continuing her explorations into how humanity can redeem its relationship with the natural world. Wind, Tide and Oar came about when Rose shared her knowledge of sailing with her land locked brother, Huw.

Sukhdev Sandhu directs the Colloquium for Unpopular Culture at New York University. A former Critic of the Year at the British Press Awards, he writes for the Guardian, makes radio documentaries for the BBC, and runs the Texte and Töne publishing imprint.