“What advice would you give to a 25-year-old who’s interested in filmmaking?” This is the query that got our friend and artist Alex Klein moving to Israel, creating some of he best work we’ve seen in some time.



“Alex was a skateboarder for most of his life,” explains Say Mayday. “It was good to him; he had legitimate sponsors, he was able to travel the world and meet new people everywhere he went. But by the time he turned 25, he felt the need to explore new avenues.

“With a natural inclination toward storytelling (he’d been submitting editorials to skateboard magazines for a few years during his skating career), Alex wanted to try his hand at filmmaking. A lack of direction hampered his ability to dive in immediately, but a surprise meeting with Joel Coen would inspire him to make a film with the limited resources to which he had access. Cue ‘God Went Surfing with the Devil.’

“Alex and a crew of three friends (Edward Chase, Bryan Derballa, and Danilo Parra) spent two months shooting in Israel and Gaza, exploring surfing as means of peacemaking in the region. Despite being confronted with grave danger at every turn while under the stress of a strict timeline, Alex was able to complete his film. And despite his satisfaction with how it turned out, the experience had a lot more to offer than simple lessons in filmmaking.”

More on Alex Klein’s film, God Went Surfing with the Devil, at godwentsurfing.com