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Eva Madden’s short film Eastern Shore celebrates the rugged, unforgiving coastline of Nova Scotia and the people who live there. Shot in early winter, the dreary grey skies are testimony to the fact that warm weather in Atlantic Canada is scarce, and to be a surfer here takes more than simple commitment, it takes passion.
In Eastern Shore, Kat (Beth Amiro), is a 20-something surfer who moves away from her beloved beach life to be with her boyfriend, Jake (Steven Wendland), who is going to school in the city. Determined to give urban life a shot, Kat quickly realizes that she’s having trouble leaving her former life behind, and starts to get up with the dawn, leaving their 9th floor apartment for the long drive out to the beach to hit the waves and spend time with old friends. This leads to a tough decision for Kat and Jake, a reckoning as to the future of their relationship.
At its heart, Eastern Shore is about the process of choosing what is right for yourself. It’s a young adult story, of how people in relationships can move in different directions and the effort it takes to reconcile those differences. There are times when it just can’t be done. Is Jake more mature than Kat, or more jaded? Is she being naive, or realistic? The film leaves any judgment up to the audience, though it’s clear that the viscera of the film is in its surfing scenes, shot at Lawrencetown Beach, north and east of Halifax on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia. There is a joy and freedom in surfing that makes it an almost spiritual activity for those who participate, and the film is a snapshot into an actual community of all-season surfers who spend their free time riding the waves. Away from the cameras, lead actress Beth Amiro is part of that community; besides being a graduate of the Dalhousie theatre program, she is also an instructor at the One Life Surf School for women.
What is evident at the end of Eastern Shore is that Kat’s decision, though not an easy one, is a recognition of what is important to her. As the director, Eva Madden, says, "[She] is choosing for herself what is best for her as opposed to choosing for someone else.â€