Chris Bystrom’s Surf Movies
Chris Bystrom - 25/02/50 — 04/05/01
Chris Bystrom started off with humble beginnings, and like many other teenagers growing up as a young Californian in Redondo Beach, loved surfing with a passion. Chris earned his daily keep wheeling and dealing, selling used records at swap meets out of the trunk of his 1955 Pontiac for double the price he originally paid. It wasn’t until a close friend handed him a movie camera in ‘67 that Bystrom found his true calling. So at age 17, fuelled with the love of surfing and capturing photographic images, he began shooting.
Since that first encounter with a camera Chris Bystrom has produced 3 feature-length 16mm surfing documentaries and 27 surfing films. He holds the standing record for the most surfing films released by any single individual. Included in that list are such shortboard classics as “Blazing Boards”, “Beyond Blazing Boards (Wave of the Future)”, “Cyclone fever”, “Gravity Sucks” and “Son of the Last Surf Movie” to name a few amongst many.
In an era when most surf movies were being shown in high school auditoriums and community centers Bystrom brought surfing back to the big screen. His 16mm films were shown at the Sydney Opera House and cinemas across Australia and the United States.
In many ways Chris was way ahead of his time. He had a flair for recognizing trends in the surfing industry and saw the longboarding revolution coming almost before it had started. In the mid 90’s longboarding had been somewhat forgotten, Bystrom is credited for helping resurrect the longboarding scene and make it what it is today by producing films that influenced generations. Classics like “Blazing Longboards”, “Longboarding is Not a Crime”, “Full Cycle”, “Longboards the Rebirth of Cool” and “Soul Patrol” are amongst his legacy.
Bystrom’s covers featured famous surfing artists like Rick Griffin and Jim Davidson. His eye for talent brought underground bands at the time like “INXS”, “Men Without Hats” and the “Hoodoo Gurus” public exposure when he incorporated them in his movies.
Chris Surfing
Although more widely known for his movie making, Chris also had literary and business talents. He founded, published and edited the influential “Pacific Longboarder Magazine” in Australia for two years and also owned a surf shop cum museum called “Retro Groove” in Coolangatta. Bystrom’s vast surfing roots gave him the knowledge to author “The Glide” which was the first comprehensive look at longboarding in nearly thirty years and was a forerunner of today’s longboarding books.
Tragically, Chris Bystrom was killed in a motor vehicle accident at Tumbulgum NSW in May 2001.
As one of the primary film makers of his time Chris’s contribution to the sport of surfing will never be forgotten. He is sadly missed by family and friends alike.
This site is dedicated to my father, Chris, and as his son I hope to continue his legacy into the future.
Thanks to Jan Bystrom, John Davidson, Richard Safady, Ian Yates, Rodger Kelly, Dick Hoole, Dennis Greaves, Daryl Barnett, Dave Wright, Coby Chapple, Marty Tullemans, Warren Delbridge, friends, family (in Aus and the U.S) and everyone who has helped me along the way.
– Josh Bystrom