PRESS+ REVIEW
“I can't recommend this movie highly enough... It's moving, profound, comprehensive and thought provoking… The film exceeded my expectations. The early footage is as beguiling as could be imagined, the single fin surfing sings. The allure of Nias still holds decades after Lovett and his pals first laid eyes on that palm-fringed marvel… Coley has done a magnificent job of weaving so many disparate threads into such an entertaining whole. It marks the beginning of a reckoning, long overdue, about the impacts of surf tourism on our nearest neighbour. Go see this film.”
STEVE SHEARER - The Depth Test // Swellnet
https://www.swellnet.com/news/the-depth-test/2025/11/19/review-point-change
"I love it. Really clever and visually ravishing and tells a great story.”
Bill Finnegan (Author of Barbarian days)
“Perhaps the most subtle and my favorite subtext of the film unfolds through a young girl, whose presence anchors the narrative. The camera follows her daily routines around Sorake — wandering between houses, visiting the beach, fetching water, and eventually paddling out on a surfboard. There’s a quiet sweetness, a freedom, an innocence to her. Like the wave, she remains, singing, smiling, gazing at the sky in silence. Point of Change also carries an ecofeminist undercurrent, offering a bold statement about the pillaging of place as a metaphorical assault on the feminine, using the image of a woman’s body to animate the heavy duress of tourism.”
Tara ruttenberg - STAB
https://stabmag.com/features/can-surfing-ever-stop-destroying-the-places-it-loves/
‘It’s powerful, I loved it. A beautiful thing.’
— gregory lynn, prince charles cinema
Point of Change is a powerful and unique film that spoke strongly to our audience.
An adventure through surfing history which also carries a universal message which reasonates well after you've seen it.
— J’AIMEE SKIPPON-VOLKE, Byron Bay international film festival
https://www.echo.net.au/2023/11/byron-bay-film-festival-winners-announced-2/
I think it is an important and significant film. It’s about surfers discovering waves. And what happens afterwards. It still leaves me with a mystery.
RUSTY MILLER - CHAMPION SURFER AND LEGEND
Absolutely intriguing. So well researched and filmed. A social study of a place and surfers’ impact.
TRICIA SHANTZ - WRITER OF NEVERLAND / BYRON BAY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
https://www.huckmag.com/article/how-surfers-destroyed-an-idyllic-indonesian-island
#PointOfChange won Balinale 2024’s Committee Choice Award!
The film takes you into an entirely different culture and community then elevates the significance of this modern cautionary tale through its connection with Kevin Lovett. Point of Change isn’t just any documentary—it’s a captivating, dramatic feature that draws you in with its unique storytelling. Committee statement.
Bali International Film Festival 2024
Point of Change takes on the many layered aspects of the history of one of surfing’s most iconic locations and deftly explores the complex and overlapping issues associated with the exponential growth and cultural changes around this waveriding destination - from early pioneers through earthquakes and tsunamis, to the present day tourist boom.
It weaves in incredible archive material and years of interviews to produce an insightful and enlightening documentary that is rare within the surfing genre. A must watch.
Chris Nelson, filmmaker and London Surf / Film Festival festival co-founder.
A compassionate, wise and effortlessly creative documentary that is about so much more than surfing.
MATT BARR - LOOKING SIDEWAYS
It's much more than just the story of Nias, it's the story of the rapid growth of surfing, and how that impacts great waves in remote locales. Point of Change is thoroughly entertaining, but also a social study that we can learn from.
A lot happens! The malaria, the mystery of Ingrid, the tsunami, etc. It's a singular story, and also a microcosm of so many of these surf tourism destinations. The graphics were excellent. And that big swell!
Jamie Brisick
Pacific Longboarder Magazine article by Kevin Lovett
Hey You Guys - https://www.heyuguys.com/point-of-change-review/
EXPRESS.co.uk
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1976084/surf-tourism-indonesian-island-nias-island
Pacific Longboarder Magazine - Issue-No-118 - ‘Upon Reflection’ by Kevin Lovett
Point of Change documentary feature