Originally from the French Caribbean, Issam Auptel is a 20-year-young regular footer living in Hossegor, South-West France.
A good friend of Erwin Bliss and Mr. Eithan Osborne and attested bon-vivant it didn’t take long for his enthusiasm to gain our hearts.
When you’ve grown up surfing head-high turquoise water wedges in boardies your whole life, the move to mainland Europe can be a daunting place—although Issam has crossed that bridge just fine. After months taking his fair share of floggings, Issam now handles both the unfriendly drops and crowd of heavy Gravière days like a total lord. Still taking routine beatings, but also finding diamonds in the rough, he’s earned himself another type of diamond in the form of a Volcom sponsorship.
Despite the lad’s rugged nature, there’s only a certain amount of time any islander can spend in Euro winter. With Covid restrictions limiting the fun potential a step further, Issam and our very own Yentl Touboul decided it was time to pull the plug and regroup to their tropical bosom. They came back with exposed negatives, full memory cards, and after a few weeks in the edit bay, a new short film named Wisteria started to take form.
By the time you read these lines, young Issam must be a sleepy young lad. After a two months wait (mostly for the Covid situation in Les Landes to stabilise) the stars finally aligned for the film to see the light of the day last week, and what a christening that was. After a maxed out Coolin and the rowdiest premiere we’ve ever held last Thursday, the film premiered in front of hundreds—or should we say thousands?—of people yesterday night in Biarritz. With the closing party of the Rat’s Cup following right after, we’d say that the odds of our lead being deep in bed are rather high.
Anyways, if you haven’t crossed path with Issam and his Vybz Kartel tribute sunnies this weekend, here he is. Ladies and gentlemen, Issam Auptel in Wisteria.
