Bra Boys
Bra Boys, the documentary, is a film about the cultural evolution of the inner-Sydney beachside suburb of Maroubra and the social struggle of its youth the tattooed and much maligned surf community known as the Bra Boys. The story is narrated by Australian actor Russell Crowe and is told through the eyes of members of the Bra Boys.It shows how the evolution of Maroubra, coupled with the historical stigma associated with Australias rebellious surf community, has contributed to their social displacement. It is a surf documentary, yet one that looks beyond the clichéd artistic beauty of the sport to expose the sometimes-troubled tale of its participants.It is the first full-length film project being undertaken by, and officially sanctioned by, the Bra Boys. It is their story. It shows their success in professional big wave surfing, it explores their international reputation for hard partying and rough justice, it touches on their running battle with authorities and it shows their absolute reliance on one another to fit into a society in which they are displaced and, at times, disinterested.Central to the story is the true-life struggle of the Abberton brothers Sunny, Koby, Jai and Dakota one charged with murdering a Sydney standover man, another pursuing a professional surf career but charged as an accessory in his brothers legal fight, another trying to hold the family together and a young brother whose inheritance is his siblings notoriety.Bra Boys, the documentary, uses archival footage shot by the Bra Boys and blends it with current surf vision and interviews to create a story that is compassionate and confronting. It is a story of contrast involving against-the-odds success and predictable failures and, ultimately, a story exploring the legacy and hopes of the next generation of Bra Boys members.SUNNY ABBERTONSunny Abberton is a 34-year-old first-time writer, director and producer.Sunny was born in Sydney, Australia, as the oldest of four brothers, and spent his formative years between Maroubras housing estates, New Zealand and a hippy commune in Nimbin. Sunny, and brothers Jai and Koby, were taught to surf by their grandfather and would find the beach their only escape from a troubled and destitute home life.Sunny showed talent as a young surfer and left school at age 15 to pursue a career in the sport. Sunny competed on the competitive ASP Pro Tour in the late 1980s and early 1990s, in which he gained a reputation as one of the best junior surfers in the world. Fortuitously, this early career path took him to countries such as Brazil and South Africa where he was introduced to class injustices and economic oppression for the first time on a global scale.While he was in Brazil, he discovered a childrens reading book written to teach the poorest Brazilian children about the Landless Movement, which was a turning point for Sunny. Through this piece of literature, he first gained an insight into the power of the arts to have the potential to enlighten and inform - particularly the young and the oppressed. Sensing parallels between the injustices experienced by the lower echelons of these societies, and the poverty he had witnessed in the housing commission estates of his native Maroubra, Sunny set out to create a voice which could inspire the youth of his own backyard. Thus the idea for BRA BOYS was born.Meanwhile, back in Maroubra, an escalation in tensions among various Sydney communities was beginning to manifest in violence on Sydneys eastern beaches. Gangs would regularly travel to the beaches and it sparked a series of bloody confrontations. The youth at Maroubra banded together to defend their beach and create a brotherhood to protect one another. Sunny was part of the resistance and, together with a small group of mates, formed a group they termed the Bra Boys.From his days on the Pro Surf tours, Sunny had a wealth of experience in front of the camera, and he used this exposure to learn the tricks of the trade, through a mixture of osmosis and curiosity. Years of filming surf travelogues on home video cameras also helped to equip him for his first feature documentary shoot.It was about six months into the filming of the documentary that his brother Jai was charged with murdering a Sydney standover man, a blow later amplified when his brother Koby was charged as an accessory after the fact. Together with a local production company Sunny spent an additional three years filming the central figures within the Bra Boys community, including the legal struggle of his two brothers.He collected hundreds of hours of film out of which the Bra Boys documentary was compiled. Sunny was the writer, producer and director of the film.As the informally appointed patriarch of both the Abberton family and then the larger group known as the Bra Boys, Sunny had always felt a deep responsibility for both the internal and external perception of the group. Through this documentary, Sunny hopes to give inspiration and a voice to the youth of Maroubra, and others in Australia who have grown up in similar circumstances, as well as provide an arena to share their experiences in a public forum.Sunny currently lives at Maroubra Beach in Sydney, Australia. BRA BOYS is his first feature film and he currently has another two projects in development, one of which is a feature adaptation of the BRA BOYS documentary.KOBY ABBERTONKoby Abberton is a 27-year-old professional surfer who has built a career as a specialist big wave charger. He is one of just a handful of surfers paid to find and surf the worlds biggest waves.He was born in Sydney, Australia, and grew up the third eldest of four brothers. He was raised in the government housing estates of Maroubra Beach, save for two years of his early childhood spent between temporary homes in New Zealand and, subsequently, a commune in Nimbin in northern New South Wales.His early years in Maroubra were spent living in the garage of his grandparents home, only moving out when his mother was issued with a small apartment in a nearby government housing estate.Koby, like his elder brothers, was taught to surf by his grandfather and found the beach the only escape from a troubled family life. He was educated at Maroubra Bay public school but, after failing to adjust to the regimented school life, he left when aged just 14. Shortly thereafter he left home after being struck with a baseball bat by his mothers heroin addicted partner. He moved from house to house, staying for extended periods with the families of his mates from the beach, before moving in with older brother Sunny. He would also go on to become a founding member of the Bra Boys surf group, a fearsome brotherhood founded at Maroubra Beach to protect the local youth from frequent incursions by various Sydney gangs seeking to attack surfers. He wears the Bra Boys tattoo proudly, along with a range of others including a large necklace tattoo with the signature words My Brothers Keeper.Koby showed early potential as a surfer, picking up a range of sponsorships before travelling internationally to compete on the World Qualifying Series (WQS) in the hope of gaining entry onto the premier World Championship Tour. However, with the WQS events generally staged in small wave locations he was finding it difficult to register strong results. That all changed when the tour headed to a new destination the little known Teahupoo reef in Tahiti for the 1999 Gotcha Pro. The waves were treacherous, with many of the more seasoned competitors fearful of the consequences of the shallow-breaking barrels. The 20-year-old Koby reveled in the conditions and went on to win the contest and cement his place as a big wave specialist.He was later sponsored by international eyewear company Oakley to continue his big wave surfing career. However, he regularly courted controversy with his fearsome reputation both in and out of the water resulting in running battles with the law. This was amplified in 2004 when he was charged with accessory after the fact in the murder of a Sydney standover man. His brother Jai had earlier been charged with murder.The fallout from the incident, coupled with a range of other controversies, saw the collapse of his sponsorship and the onset of severe financial hardship. However, he toughed it out and was found not guilty on the accessory charge but guilty on the backup charge of perverting the course of justice. He was spared a jail term and vowed to intensify his assault on the worlds biggest waves.Kobys exploits in the surf have reportedly earned him more Australian surf magazine covers than any other surfer. He has also picked up a series of new sponsors, including Analog clothing, Globe International Ltd for shoes and Sabre Vision eyewear, to join his long-time surfboard sponsor Warner. He also has his own apparel label called My Brothers Keeper.
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