The Agave Gun
2018 · 10m · United States
Directed by Ross Haines
Genres: documentary
Tones: contemplative, sensual
Master craftsman Gary Linden builds surfboards from agave in this sensory craft documentary.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Agave surfboards sound like the setup to a parody, but Haines plays it completely straight—which somehow makes it weirder and more honest than any ironic take could manage.
A formally restrained craft documentary that understands the lineage of the form; the sensory precision here echoes both the minimalist ethnographic tradition and contemporary slow cinema without genuflecting to either.
The decision to let the tactile process—the grain, the carving, the grain again—become the entire architecture rather than backdrop is what transforms a niche subject into something luminous and completely necessary.
Reviews
A beautiful documentary short about following your passion by Santa Monica-based director Ross Haines. Featuring master craftsman Gary Linden, "The Agave Gun" chronicles Linden's artistic vision as he uses unexpected materials to create something not only of substance but of experience.