Two surf movies will take surfers on a nostalgic journey with drive-in style screenings that will also help the ocean they call their playground.

Drains To Ocean, a Huntington Beach-based nonprofit, is hosting film screenings April 23-24, as well as a “Beach Neighborhood Cleanup,” as part of a two-day fundraiser. for Earth Day.

“The reason I started Drains To Ocean is to try to connect surfers to the environment and to open their eyes a little more. You go to the beach, you see all this garbage everywhere, ”said Seth Matson, president and founder of Drains To Ocean. “All surfers want to ride a clean wave.”

Proceeds from the event will go to Drains To Ocean’s environmental and educational programs, which typically receive funds from a surf reduce, reuse and recycle competition that has had to be canceled two years in a row due to the ongoing pandemic. . Last year, instead of the competition, Drains To Ocean hosted a sold-out screening of “Endless Summer”.

Friday, “The Endless Summer II” will be screened. It was created by iconic filmmaker Bruce Brown and his son, Dana, 30 years after the original and takes place in the ’90s shortboard era. It follows pro surfers Pat O’Connell and Robert “Wingnut” Weaver as they searched for the perfect surf, just like Mike Hynson and Robert August did in “Endless Summer”.

“Endless Summer II” has found its own success among surfers of a younger generation as O’Connell and Weaver engage in shenanigans as they travel to exotic surf spots and explore cultures around the world.

On April 24, “Bustin ‘Down the Door” will be screened. It explores a more controversial cultural moment in surfing history in the mid-1970s, when a group of Australians and South Africans ventured to Hawaii to make a name for themselves, but discovered that local Hawaiian surfers did not accept their brash style well.

The film stars legendary professional surfers such as Shaun Tomson, Ian Cairns and Peter Townend, the first world surfing champion who plans to attend both screenings of the films.

The film looks back at the birth of professional surfing in 1976 after surfer Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew wrote an article in Surfer Magazine titled “Bustin ‘Down the Door”.

While the intention was to show the world that they were a force to be reckoned with, some Hawaiians felt disrespected.

The film chronicles how Hawaiian Eddie Aikau – a well-respected surfer and peacemaker who later died in 1978 trying to save his crew on a failed trip to the Tahitian Islands – stepped in to referee a rally of surfers from both sides.

For Matson, bringing surf movies to the community reminds him of when he was a kid, when there was a surf theater in downtown Huntington Beach.

“We loved going there,” he said. “Everyone is whistling and applauding for the barrel rides.”

Given COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing needs, space for screenings is limited. Each ticket gives access to a vehicle with a parking space and can accommodate up to six people. Movies start at 7:25 p.m., doors open at 6:00 p.m.

Parking spaces will have a small area for tailgating and for people who want to watch from beach chairs.

A neighborhood and beach clean-up will take place from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 24, starting with former pro surfer Bud Llamas’ 17th Street Board Shop, 414 17th St.

Matson said he hopes to inspire others by hosting fun events that have an environmental education touch.

“It’s a ripple effect,” he says.

There will be limited edition clothing designed by local surfing artists Bradie Shemke and Cameron Calderon and artwork for sale to help raise funds for Drains to Ocean.

Shemke, a Hurley surf wear artist, donated a personalized Earth Day T-shirt for the Drains to Ocean efforts. Calderon, a surf artist from Long Beach, has designed a custom trucker hat and painting that he will auction.

The films are shown in the parking lot of the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection at 9812 Hamilton Ave., Huntington Beach.

Tickets cost $ 35 and pre-registration is required. To purchase limited edition Earth Day tickets or clothing, or for more information, visit drainstoocean.org.