On April 27, 1972, the iconic surf film Five Summer Stories, asks, “Where were you in ’72?”
Heralded as, “the finest surf movie ever made,” Five Summer Stories is a cultural icon, a time capsule from a watershed era when the world was at a critical crossroads and its reflection was clear in the emerging sport/art of surfing.
The Lobero was a leader in premiering new surf films during the 60’s and 70’s, and this one consistently scores high marks from critics and fans. Set against a backdrop of the Vietnam War and the Nixon years, Five Summer Stories was the culmination of the joint surf-film careers of Jim Freeman and Greg MacGillivray.
“For the surfing afficianado, Five Summer Stories is an incredible barrage of audio-visual stimulus.” – SURFER Magazine
Code name “The Last Surfing Movie” during production, the movie portrays a young, outlaw sport at a strategic point in its creative evolution–and at a historical crux in time.
The film is generally acknowledged as the start of the second generation of surf films, with the first generation being typified by Bruce Brown’s The Endless Summer.
While we wait in the wings for things to return to normal, we hope you enjoy a peek into the Lobero archives.
We hope you’re staying safe and enjoying the arts from the comfort of your own home. Go ahead and read more stories below.