This is the second installation of Context Africa, a new series that will highlight projects that go above and beyond daily news to tell a story of a place in its context and create an ongoing dialogue about what it means to tell contextual stories in Africa. See also, Jina Moore’s Q and A about forgivness in Rwanda from last week.

This Q and A is with Nicholai Lidow, who did a summer internship at a peacebuilding organization in Ghana, where he lived with a group of Liberian refugees. After graduating from college, Nicholai traveled to Liberia to meet up with these friends, who had just returned to their country after 14 years of exile. The people he met on this journey and the incredible waves at Robertsport changed Nicholai’s life. To tell those stories, Nicholai teamed up with his friends back home—a small group of filmmakers and surfers—to make the the movie.

Sliding Liberia follows Nicholai and his friends to Liberia in search of more than perfect waves. Risking everything to explore the West African country devastated by decades of war, they record the stories of people they meet—people like Alfred, who became Liberia’s first surfer after finding a bodyboard while fleeing from rebels. Besides rediscovering a break that could be the best-kept secret in the surfing world, they find something more important—a way to travel responsibly in the 21st century.

One of the things I like about Sliding Liberia is that is neither just the story of you and your friends surfing nor the story of Liberia’s recently ended war. How did you work to achieve that balance?

Surfers have the opportunity to travel to some of the most interesting and amazing places in the world in search of waves—El Salvador, Indonesia, the Philippines. But a generation of surfers have grown up with surf media that show image after image of perfect waves, with little concern for the people who live on land. The goal of Sliding Liberia is to combine the journey towards perfect waves with a more in-depth look at the people and places encountered along the way.
Striking a balance between surfing and a documentary-style look at Liberia’s current situation was the biggest challenge of the film. Britton Caillouette and I tried to be very careful to preserve Sliding Liberia as a surf film—something that would be entertaining to watch—while also presenting an accurate, informative picture of Liberia today. During the editing process we went back and forth—cutting some surfing, adding some interviews, and vice versa— until the balance seemed right.

What kind of feedback has the film gotten?

The response to the film—from the surfing community, the general public, and people in Liberia—has been overwhelming. When Britt and I first thought up the idea for the film in 2005, we had no experience and no connections in the surfing world. Our idea was simply to buy a couple of camcorders and see what happens. Early on in the project we met with the Malloy brothers (a legendary trio of surfer/filmmakers) and pitched them our idea. The Malloy brothers were incredibly supportive and within a week we had a top cinematographer (Dave Homcy) a brilliant photographer (Ted Grambeau) and multiple feature articles lined up.

Even more surprising was the positive response from film festivals and the general public. Sliding Liberia has screened more than 60 times on 6 continents and won more than a dozen awards at international film festivals. I think part of the reason for this reception is that the film strikes a balance between the beauty and optimism of Liberia on one hand, and the serious legacy of violence and poverty on the other (plus the soundtrack is catchy).

My biggest joy from the film, however, has been screening it in Liberia. Over the last two years we’ve organized a few free screenings in Monrovia and Robertsport, for both NGO workers and Liberians. I was terrified how these groups of people—people with experience in Liberia—would judge the film. The feedback has been very positive, and it has been great seeing my friends who appeared in the film transform into local celebrities.

How have things changed at Roberstport, where you filmed most of the surfing, and in Liberia, in the years you’ve been visiting?

Robertsport has experienced some changes since the film was shot in 2006, although the people still face the same daily struggles. When we made the film, Alfred was the only local with any experience surfing. Now there are at least a dozen kids out in the water, and four of them are becoming very, very good. The kids now have access to about a dozen surfboards that visitors have been kind enough to leave, and surfing is continuing to grow. The biggest change, of course, has been the opening of “Nana’s Camp,” a luxury lodge right on the beach. Now surfers and aid workers can stay at Robertsport in comfort, without having to build a camp on the beach.

At least a dozen surfers have made the journey to Liberia solely to experience the waves at Robertsport (most of them because they’ve seen Sliding Liberia!). Hopefully as these numbers grow, the opportunities for employment and development in Robertsport will increase.
Unfortunately the people of Robertsport continue to face difficulties. Although most of the community relies on fishing, the long distance to Monrovia means that there are no markets to sell their fish. Very few jobs exist in Robertsport (although Nana’s Camp now employs about 20 local staff), and access to electricity or running water is very limited. Alfred’s mother, for example, has had to leave her family and move to Kakata to pursue a job in teaching because she could not find any source of income in Robertsport.

You’ve come back to Liberia this time around to work on doctoral research. How is your academic work informed by your time in Liberia hanging out and surfing?

My research focuses on post-conflict reconstruction and on the organization of rebel groups. My academic work has benefited tremendously from my early experiences in Liberia. I first came to Liberia to visit friends that I had met in Ghana in 2003 while they were Liberian refugees. When I graduated from college I traveled to Liberia with the simple goal of visiting these friends and tagging along with them while they tracked down their families and reconnected with a country they hadn’t seen in 14 years.

Seeing Liberia from their perspective sparked a connection with Liberia that I have never felt anywhere else. But aside from this personal connection, my network of friends have proven invaluable resources when it comes to explaining the nuances of Liberian politics or tracking down elusive contacts.

I really love the music you guys used in the film. Can you tell me a bit about that?

Britton Caillouette, my partner on the film, was the driving force behind the soundtrack. Our goal was to create a bridge between the Western music that typically appears in surf films and the West African music that is a more authentic backdrop to the scenery and stories on the screen. Britt listened to thousands of songs to pick the ones that worked— I think he did an amazing job. We also teamed up with Todd Hannigan and Jesse Siebenberg to compose an original score that captured the complicated emotions present in the film.

$1 from each DVD sold on the website is donated to NGOs and local organizations working in Liberia. The film is also available at Amazon.com or on Netflicks.