By focusing on cultural barriers rather than killer waves, director Adam Pesce has created a compelling surfing documentary in “Splinters.” The film explores life in the remote Papua New Guinea island of Vanimo, where surfing is considered not just the most important of sports, but the only real means by which young men and women can get off the island and see the world. The film climaxes in Papua New Guinea’s first national surfing competition, the winner of which will get to compete against world-renowned surfers in Australia. The most interesting sequences in "Splinters" do not revolve around who wins the competition, but who will be allowed to participate. There is a great deal of tension between the island’s two surfing factions: the Vanimo Surf Club and the Sunset Surf Club. The groups’ rift began nine years earlier when Vanimo’s best surfer, Angelus, was competing for them at an event in Fiji.