WATCH: La Jetée | A Surfing Return to Reunion Island

Reunion Island is a small volcanic island located in the Indian Ocean, bordered to the west by Madagascar and to the northeast by Mauritius. Famous for being somewhat of a surfing Mecca, this paradise island was rocked by a series of horrific shark attacks between 2011 – 2019, of which 11 had been fatal. This led to Surfing and swimming being prohibited outside of the island’s relatively safe coral lagoon. Over the past couple of years, there has been surfing resurgence. Despite everything, throughout it all, the place where a few surfers continued to do what they loved the most was La Jetée, which is considered to be one of the (if not the) best air waves in the world.

In early 2022, filmmaker/surf photographer Alan van Gysen along with a small crew headed back to Reunion to reconnect with this incredible island and its people to produce a short film. La Jetée | A Surfing Return to Reunion Island is the prequel to a bigger shark crisis documentary they are currently working on. The film sees Matthieu Guillaume, a local surfer from St. Pierre and local Cape Town surfers Luke Slijpen and Eli Beukes touring this area of the island and shredding some sick waves.

Shark attacks are still a concern on Reunion Island, and surfing outside of the designated protected areas is still technically illegal, but there has not been an attack in three years at the time of the production. Scientists can’t say with certainty why, but there is important research being done and the establishment of protected surfing areas at places like St.Leu have made getting in the water safer. The local surfing and lifeguard community have done an incredible job of rallying together with scientists to create water patrols and establish a number of protocols to try minimise the risk of an attack as much as possible at these spots.

Now Now Media is busy working on a more in-depth documentary on the shark situation in Reunion but in order to surf at St Leu, you’re supposed to register on the beach and have a shark deterrent device. Surfers still surf other parts of Reunion without organised protection measures but this is technically illegal (you could face a fine) and at their own risk. 

La Jetée | A Surfing Return to Reunion Island

Starring
Eli Beukes | Luke Slijpen | Allain Matthieu Guillaume

DOP
Alan van Gysen

Filmers
Alan van Gysen | Ian Thurtell | Julian ‘Ciel’ Celeste | Will Bendix

Directed & Edited
By Will Bendix

A Now Now Media Production

GEAR USED

x2 Sony A7SIII cameras
Sony 16-35mm lens
Sony 24-70mm lens
Sony 70-200mm lens 
Sony 200-600mm lens
Atomos Ninja V monitor and recorder
Sony K3M XLR sound mixer
Senheisser G4 sound set
Pro Salty Surf Water Housing