FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

IFTA AWARDS 2026

The Surfer

A man revisits his childhood beach to surf with his son. Humiliated by locals, he becomes entangled in an escalating conflict that pushes him to his limits.

Director: Lorcan Finnegan
Writer: Thomas Martin
Producers: Nicolas Cage, Brunella Cocchiglia, Robert Connolly, Leonora Darby

Filmmaker Q&A

Q: What was the genesis of this film, and how did it evolve over the course of development to production and completion?

Lorcan Finnegan (Director): “The story began with Thomas Martin, the screenwriter. He told me about his experience of localism in Australia and had a short outline for a story. The themes were very intriguing and both Tom and I have a love of Ozploitation, so The Surfer felt like an opportunity to contribute to the genre in an exciting and original way. Nicolas Cage joined quite quickly and became a key collaborator. The film evolved through production and was sculpted into form with my longtime editor Tony Cranstoun and graded by the wizard Gary Curran. I reunited with the amazing sound designer Aza Hand and joined forces with the magnificent Australian composer Francois Tetaz, so from script to our Cannes premiere an immense amount of talent contributed to making it a truly unique film."

Q: What did you feel was the most fulfilling element of working on this film?

Lorcan: “Crafting The Surfer with the incredibly talented and committed Nicolas Cage and Julian McMahon was a real joy and we had a lot of fun making the film in the little town of Yallingup, Western Australia. Julian sadly passed away in July 2025 and The Surfer was his last film, I feel honored to have worked with him.”

Tony Cranstoun (Editor): “Editing The Surfer was the fourth time that I have collaborated with director Lorcan Finnegan and it was a great opportunity for us to continue to play with some of the more experimental techniques that we had explored in other work together. In Thomas Martin’s screenplay, the character of The Surfer is spiralling out of control and this allowed us to fully lean into the narrative ambiguities and harness the energies of flashback and memory in a visual and visceral way."

Q: To what extent was your on-screen talent vital to the success of the film?

Lorcan: “Nicolas Cage being involved in development helped forge a strong relationship and trust between us, which resulted in a very brave performance. There was also a chemistry between Julian and Nick that was just magical.”

Q: What does it mean to have your work acknowledged by your peers in the Irish film community and showcased at the IFTA Awards?

Lorcan: "IFTA has always been important to me personally, my short film FOXES won an IFTA back in 2011 and launched my career. Ireland has a close knit filmmaking community and we all support each other, so it's great to share and celebrate our work at the awards."

Tony: “It is wonderful and rewarding to be featured among such an extraordinarily rich pool of creative talent. Irish film is going from strength to strength and I feel humbled and honoured that my work on The Surfer has the opportunity to be showcased within the Irish film community with the support of IFTA."