Aaron Lieber scooped the grand prize at the second REDirect Surf Film Festival with his short THE WILD, which shows 15-year-old surf wunderkind Noah Beschen doing what he does best.

The beautifully shot film follows Noah through a dense forest, showing off Hawaii’s naturally awe-inspiring landscapes and then into the sea. Watching Noah run through the forest, float in the water and get within touching distance of a massive turtle is enough to make anyone question why they’re not out in the water. Like, right now!

THE WILD rests on more than Noah’s undoubted skill as a surfer, though. Lieber has managed to capture how raw and natural surfing is to his subject; he glides effortlessly over the water, spins with absolute ease and looks as comfortable riding a crest as he does running up through the winding jungle paths.

As a reward, RED, who partnered the event with Surfer Magazine, gave Lieber a ton of camera gear ideal for shooting surfing.

David Malcolm placed as Lieber’s runner-up for his film Los Zapatos with Eric Knutson rounding off the top three as well as taking home the Fan Favourite award for Being A Surfer Is Fun.

Check out more from the RED x Surfer Magazine REDirect Surf Film Festival.