Reviewed by Omid Arabian

Despite what its title might suggest, God Went Surfing With The Devil is not a horror spoof nor an epic surf flick. It's a documentary look at the Arab-Israeli ‘situation' by first-time director Alexander Klein, a young American skateboarder-turned-filmmaker. In Israel on a two-month sojourn, Klein meets Arthur Rashkovan and Matt Olsen, members of Surfing 4 Peace—a loose organization of surfers and surf enthusiasts that aims to bridge cultural and political barriers in the Middle East. *

God Went Surfing with the Devil on DVDRashkovan and Olsen are in the midst of trying to import a shipment of surfboards and surfing gear into Israel, for eventual delivery into the hands of Palestinian surfers in the Gaza Strip. As one might expect, this is far from a walk in the park. The operation, as documented by Klein, turns out to be a nightmare of red tape—daily eruptions of violence, shutdowns of transportation routes, official mistrust, and just plain bureaucratic ineptitude continue to stall the shipment and stymie the pair's efforts.

Meantime, Klein goes after other characters in and around the surfing culture that—unbeknownst to most westerners and many natives—is blooming in the region. These include Gil Kerren, an Israeli teenager who's managed to gain some renown on the competition circuit (he is officially sponsored by Billabong); Mofeed Jabar, a scrappy 14-year-old Israeli Arab whose love for surfing keeps him out of all kinds of trouble (or so his father hopes); and Yousef Abughanem, a young Gaza boy who lives in near-poverty but still manages to surf on borrowed boards.

Klein also conducts man-on-the-street interviews with a slew of Israelis and Arabs, covering the full range of sociopolitical opinions in the process. These include many whose lives are affected by the daily firing of rockets into Israeli coastal towns and incessant raids by the IDF forces. There is a harrowing sequence that takes place in a children's playground just as rocket alarms sound, and young mothers and their kids scramble for shelter; the tense moments they spend with their fingers in their ears, anxiously awaiting for the bomb(s) to drop, are among the strongest in the film.

Gazan surfers head for the wavesStill, God Went Surfing is blessedly light on fanatical rants and vitriolic emotions—choosing instead to focus on the collective yearning for a peaceful and fear-free life. Like its surfer subjects, the film maintains a gentle, mellow, laid-back spirit that tends to get under the skin. This sets it apart from the barrage of documentaries that have covered the conflict from various angles in recent years.

Surprisingly, there is not a whole lot of surfing footage; and those expecting a climactic surf-summit between Israelis and Arabs will come away disappointed. But fine camerawork, strong editing, and some great surfer music (including the surf-rock version of the Israeli national anthem!) help carry the film through its brief 84 minutes.

All in all, God Went Surfing helps give credence to the idea that grassroots efforts and personal interactions and interconnections are the way to peace. "In the water we don't ask each other about politics and ‘you are Jew, I am Arab.'" explains Mofeed's father (himself a surfer) late in the film. "What we speak about is, ‘Go here, go there, that wave is good.'"

Cinema Libre will release God Went Surfing With the Devil on DVD May 24th. Info.

[*Editor's Note: Surfing4Peace is a sister organization of Levantine Cultural Center's Gaza Surf Relief, a project launched in 2007].

Omid Arabian is the film editor at the Levantine Review.