Peeling Back The Layers Of Nic von Rupp’s Upcoming Film

Nic Von Rupp’s been blinking on Stab‘s radar. We appreciate his success when it comes to wrestling a name for himself – not an easy feat in this saturated surf market. But, the man from Portugal’s garnered a reputation for big barrels over shallow rocks. We like that. Which is why we endorsed his “My Road” series of yesteryear (watch one below).

So, when we saw that the Portuguese big wave surfer would be dropping a new full-length flick, titled, “Reef Road,” we dialled the gent. “Reef Road is a fictional movie about a girl that lives on this isolated island with perfect reefs,” Nic tells Stab. “Sounds weird, huh? Well, it kinda is.” We’ve heard weirder but carry on Nic.

“We mainly filmed in Indonesia, Tahiti and Hawaii,” he continues. “We showed up to six-to-eight foot, 20-30 second barrels at a spot that I’ve always heard about being a myth until I saw it spitting its guts off with 10 guys out. It was an insane session, two hours with 10 average surfers. It was maybe some of the longest, shallowest barrels I’ve ever seen. But, the most dangerous trip was probably ‘Chopes.”

“Tahiti was the worst trip we went on. It gets shitty, believe it or not,” But, your life’s pretty good, when you’re worst trip is Tahiti. “We paid 3.5k for a ticket there and the winds went sour for the swell… That one really hurt.”

http://vimeo.com/147998988

“I guess (this film) is under the umbrella of the My Road series, but completely in the opposite direction. My Road season one was an informal surf documentary about cultures, characters and stories of the places I’ve visited. Narrated by myself and friends, and I’m over hearing myself talk shit,” he laughs.

“This is a story of the life of a girl that lives on an island that has reefs and we surf pumping waves on. You can expect some airs, some turns and long barrel combos. But mostly big heavy dark pits.”

While we had him on the line, we figured it kind to ask about the state of surf in Nic’s homeland of Portugal. Beginning with the question of who the local pride of surfing is. “Garret McNamara?” Nic laughs. “I guess Frederico (Morais), who just made the tour and is killing it. Super proud of him! Fred, Vasco (Ribeiro) and myself all grew up together and are stoked to represent Portugal, it’s an epic place. Portugal’s future in surfing looks bright, the waves are versatile ranging from pumping 100 foot Nazare to 10-foot slabs to one-foot beachies. The next generation is going to kill it in all conditions.”

Reef Road premiers June 15 in San Sebastian before touring around Europe with an appearance on June 22 in Lisbon, June 23 in Peniche and July 1 in Hossegor and will be released to the world July 2.