Michael Peterson is a legend in the true sense of the word. His story is told and re-told around the campfires on surf beaches all over the world. In the early to mid 1970s he won every Australian competition available, he then went on to win the first ever international competition in 1977. He seemed to have the world at his feet, but he never surfed again. A combination of heroin and madness culminated in a 15 car police chase and incarceration.

Australian film maker, Jolyon Hoff, was compelled to make a documentary about such a hero. There have been preview screenings around europe and he has just finished a tour of the USA. He talked to moon Rocks about searching for Michael Peterson.

I read that you wanted to make a movie that documented the Michael Peterson stories that you had heard around various campfires up and down the coast of Australia. What kind of stories contributed to his legend?  
There are so many I could never capture them all. It starts with how he won every surfing event in Australia between 1972 and 1977 and then goes from there. Like, how he still wears the same pair of aviator glasses that he’s had since the 70’s, or the way he was locked up after a 15-car police chase, or the way he disappeared straight after winning the first event of the modern world tour. 
He would hang out at surfing events up in the bushes and when his heat was on he’d race down and paddle in, or he’d paddle around from the next headland and suddenly appear in the water. More often than not he’d win. All the other surfers were totally freaked out, they were all hanging on the beach and being part of this fledgling scene and he didn’t want to be a part of any of that, he just wanted to win. 

MP was known as aloof and awkward on dry land but was completely transformed in the water. Was he only ever really happy when surfing? 
For many surfers, surfing is a medatitive pursuit. We go surfing and when we come back to shore we feel happier physically, mentally and spiritually. I think part of Michael’s allure is that surfer’s believe that part of his surfing obsession and skill was driven by his need to self-medicate. On the flip side we lament that he doesn’t go surfing any more and believe it could be so good for him. 

Watching MP in old surf movies like the classic Morning of the Earth, what appealed to you about his style? 
It’s beautiful. Alby seems to have captured some magic in that Morning of the Earth sequence. I don’t exactly know what it is? Maybe the way he moves his feet or the way he dances around. It’s hard to define really, watch it over a few times, you’ll see it. 

His fall from grace is almost as legendary as his surfing, what happened? 
There are a lot of conflicting stories but essentially he was in a car chase across Queensland and was locked up for dangerous driving. After spending some time in jail he was transferred to a mental institution where he was treated for paranoid schizophrenia. 
That was in 1983 and he never surfed again. 

His erratic behavior was famous - after winning the 1975 Bells Beach contest he hid in the bushes and made a fellow surfer collect the prize check for him. Do you think it drugs or mental illness that made him lose the plot? 
I don’t really know but Frank Pithers says, in one of my favourite lines in the film, “Nobody’s ever said ‘since little Johnnies been on drugs he’s really got his life completely together – isn’t it great’. Nobodies ever said that” 
They didn’t do him any good that’s for sure. 

Neil Young sung, 'its better to burn out than fade away'. Do you think MP's star would still continue to burn as bright if he had slowly dropped down the rankings and eventually retired like most sportsmen? 
It would have been different. If he could have managed his illness he would have had the opportunity to win so many more events and he might have fared better in Hawaii. Just after he disappeared from the scene, surfing became professional. Mark Richards, Peter Townend, Rabbit and Shaun Tomson won the world championships between 1976 and 1981. Michael would regularly beat these guys in his prime. So it’s all part of the myth to wonder what may have been. 
Neil Young isn’t fading away is he? 

How has MP reacted to the film?
Michael’s comment when I asked him what he thought of the film went like this:
Me (nervously) – “What did you think of the film Michael?” 
Michael (long pause before mumbling) “It’s different.”
I wasn’t sure whether this was a positive or negative response but later on I thought “yeah he’s right, IT IS different and that’s what I like about it so much”.
Tommy, his brother, rang me up and said how Michael watches it every time he visits. I’m pretty sure he likes the recognition and that the ego is still firmly in place! 

Visit the website: http://searchingformichaelpeterson.com