
DESERT RATS

Volcom & Around The Waves present the premiere of
DESERT RATS
A dusty, adrenaline-fueled surf trip deep in the Australian desert
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Opening short: JUNGLE FEVER
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► Screening with Pierre Caley & William Aliotti in attendance
► Afterparty at Café de Paris — Drinks & music with Christian Bolognaise

the film
DESERT RATS
2025 (France)
45 minutes – VOSTFR
Trailer: https://youtu.be/b2G0RkGLXSo
Executive Producer: Guillaume Dartenuc
Surfers: William Aliotti, Pierre Caley, Matt Hollman
Cinematography: Beni Bagley, Kane Overall
Editing: Laura Diaz & Gabriel Boin
Three surfers. Nine thousand kilometers. Three weeks in the middle of nowhere.
Between endless roads, fear creeping in, and constant laughter, DESERT RATS tells the story of a wild road trip at the edge of the world — deep in a land as breathtaking as it is unforgiving, where great white sharks are a constant reminder that you’re only a guest passing through.
In DESERT RATS, William Aliotti — one of the world’s most creative free surfers — teams up with Pierre Caley — a former lifeguard in Australia and big-wave surfer — and Matt Hollman, his longtime friend, also a local lifeguard and surfer.
Their mission: to chase down slabs — those raw, heavy waves that detonate right on the reef, unpredictable and punishing.
Between spectacular landscapes, missed sessions, close encounters with sharks, and bursts of unfiltered camaraderie, the trip turns into a deeply human adventure where patience, friendship, and self-deprecation take over.
Until, of course, the long-awaited swell finally arrives — just after William leaves.
DESERT RATS captures surfing as it’s truly lived: unpredictable, sometimes cruel, yet always full of hope.
Far from postcard clichés, the film sheds light on the long waits, the raw beauty of remote coastlines, and the visceral fear that comes with sharing the ocean with apex predators.
Somewhere between wandering, humor, and pure adrenaline, this film is as much a tribute to friendship as it is to the freedom of chasing waves in the world’s most extreme conditions.

opening
JUNGLE FEVER
2025
15 minutes – (VOSTFR)
Edited by: Arthur Genie
Featuring: William Aliotti vs. Kandui Resort

Info
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
8:30 PM
Tickets available online here or directly at the cinema box office.
► Screening with Pierre Caley & William Aliotti in attendance
► After-party at Café de Paris — Drinks & music with Christian Bolognaise
Partners:
Volcom Europe
Surfer’s Journal France
Le Rex,
97 Avenue de Paris,
40150 Hossegor