1995 Biarritz Surf Festival

Featuring: Rell Kapolioka‘ehukai Sunn, Dave Parmenter, Fred Patacchia Jr, Joel Centeio, Sean Moody, Kekoa Bacalso, Macy Mullen, Melanie Bartels, Jamie Sterling, Jamie O'Brien, Jesse Ahquin, Jason Shibata, Nainoa Surratt and others.

The Menehune contest provided a focal point for Makaha kids in a town beset with a high dropout rate, drug problems, and teenage pregnancies. Sunn taught those kids to dream big. In 1995, to the marvel of many, she took the contest to the Biarritz surf festival in France. “You’re dying of cancer, and you’re sick, and you take 20-some-odd kids on a trip halfway around the world — my god!” says Fred Hemmings, a Hawaii state senator and former pro-surfing champion.

Producer, Camera, and Editor: Chris Rust
Written and narrated: Ron Mizutani
Running time: 25 minutes
Released 1995