Koby Abberton

Through the successful direction of Sunny Abberton and Macario De Souza, their intention to legitimise the struggles of the Bra Boys surf community is achieved in their confronting documentary, Bra Boys: blood is thicker than water. Filmed over 3 years and released in 2007, the documentary follows Maroubra’s ‘bra boys’ surf gang, primarily focused on the Abberton brothers; Jai, Koby and Sunny. The audience is positioned into accepting the bra boys as a fringe-group that have been victims of social injustice, who have turned to the ocean and their brotherhood as protection from the adversity surrounding them. Through the effective utilisation of various film techniques, and objective documentary characteristics, the audience is provoked into believing the reality presented by Abberton and De Souza; that social adversity can be overcome. Primarily, the audience is encouraged to accept the Bra Boys as a loyal group of surfers concerned with overcoming their social adversity whilst defending their ‘tribe’. As children, the bra boys congregated at ‘ma’s’ house as an escape from their domestically violent and low income families. This is particularly…

1. In the documentary "Bra Boys" the Abberton brothers, Sunny, Koby and Jai were the main leaders of the brotherhood. Sunny in particular, was the leader of the brotherhood and was the filmmaker of the documentary. The "Bra Boys" were portrayed as misunderstood heroes, who are both the protagonist and the antagonist. Abberton wanted to express to the audience that they helped the community and did good things for them. They were portrayed as the protagonist by the surfing community as they…