Dirty Old Wedge

A documentary featuring the world famous Newport, California wave, “the Wedge”, is due to get its debut screening later this month.

wedge

The Wedge

Given the name “Dirty Old Wedge”, filmmaker Tim Burnham has worked on this documentary for the past 4 years, his idea to highlight the culture, people and passions of the Wedge over the many years since the jetty was first created.

Tim, himself a bodysurfer, knows the history of the wave well. Over the years all bodysurfers who conquered the Wedge have become known as the “Wedge Crew”.

His documentary tracks the Wedge back in time to its creation in 1936, when the US Army Corps of Engineers first built the rock jetty, to what it has become now, the most famous bodysurfing wave in the world!

He also narrates about more recent times as bodysurfers have had to learn to share their wave with boogie boarders and others. The Wedge Preservation Society was created, who then lobbied the City Council about how to best manage the Wedge for all, for both bodysurfers and those on boards. The Blackball rule came into force, banning all floatation devices between 10 am and 5 pm throughout the summer. This law remains in force today.

The documentary will be screened at the Newport Beach Film Festival on April 22nd.

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