''The September Sessions: The Tomorrowland Story Brought To Life In Brilliant 16mm Film'' is a 2002 documentary surf film directed by singer/songwriter Jack Johnson. Often called ''September Sessions'', it is the second of The Moonshine Conspiracy film series. It was filmed in

16 mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, edu ...

. Following the release of the 2000 film '' Thicker Than Water'',

Kelly Slater Robert Kelly Slater (born February 11, 1972) is an American professional surfer, best known for being crowned World Surf League champion a record 11 times. Slater is widely regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all time. Slater is also ...

asked Jack Johnson to accompany Kelly for a trip to Indonesia. With the cast living on a retired Japanese coastguard cutter, ''Neptune 1'', Jack films Kelly and several other surfers including

Rob Machado Robert Edward Machado (born October 16, 1973) is an Australian-born American professional surfer. Early life Machado attended San Dieguito High School. He describes himself in interviews, vlogs and social media as a "soul surfer," or free ...

and

Shane Dorian Patrick Shane Dorian (born July 19, 1972), or "Shane", is an American surfer from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. He spent 11 years touring on the World Championship Tour as a professional surfer. Dorian quit competition surfing in 2003 to focus on big w ...

as they surfed flawless waves off the coast of

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

in the Mentawais of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. The film captures Kelly Slater during a major change of his life following his first retirement from the ASP circuit. Kelly had fallen into the trap of endless trade shows, store openings, and poster signings that became his life during his first retirement. By escaping both the trade shows and his former life of ASP competitions, Kelly sought to gain new levels in his spirit as he and his friends pulled into the keyhole at Hollow Trees in September, 1999. On the first morning, they awoke and stared at perfectly flawless waves. During the next several days, when Jack wasn't surfing, Jack captured on film the rebirth of Kelly. Jack wrote several songs along the way including "F-Stop Blues". However, unbeknownst to Jack, this film captures Johnson before his own rise to international stardom both as a filmmaker and as a musician.The September Sessions
on Jack Johnson musicSeptember Sessions
on Woodshed Films websiteSeptember Sessions (DVD from Studio 411)
on amazon.comSeptember Sessions (DVD from Umvd)
on amazon.comThe September Sessions
on IMDb.com ''The September Sessions'' was the result of this historically important piece of

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

, filmmaking, and music.

Synopsis

, and others take a freesurf trip to the coast of

, where they find themselves surfing beautiful waves, and lose the urgency they have come to live with being professionals. The film also includes commentary by the surfers, and some fun antics including nosewalks,

bodysurfing Bodysurfing is the art and sport of riding a wave without the assistance of any buoyant device such as a surfboard or bodyboard. Bodysurfers often equip themselves with a pair of swimfins that aid propulsion and help the bodysurfer catch, ride an ...

river surfing River surfing is the sport of surfing either standing waves, tidal bores or upstream waves in rivers. Claims for its origins include a 1955 ride of along the tidal bore of the River Severn. River surfing on standing waves has been documented a ...

and music.

Cast

In alphabetical order: *

* Luke Egan * Brad Gerlach *

* Ross Williams

Soundtrack

Released on December 17, 2002, ''The September Sessions'' soundtrack, which is scored by Johnson, are 10 tracks by various performers including G. Love & Special Sauce,

Ozomatli Ozomatli is an American rock band, formed in 1995 in Los Angeles. They are known both for their vocal activist viewpoints and incorporating a wide array of musical styles – including salsa, jazz, funk, reggae, hip hop, and others. The group ...

, Beat Down Sound, Princes of Babylon,

Bombay the Hard Way ''Bombay the Hard Way: Guns, Cars and Sitars'' is a remix album which consists of tracks from 1970s Bollywood composer duo Kalyanji–Anandji (Kalyanji Virji Shah and Anandji Virji Shah) remixed by Dan the Automator. It was released on Motel Record ...

, and Johnson himself. Jack performs his own version of

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffet ...

's classic ''A Pirate Looks at Forty''. Recorded before Johnson's first album

Brushfire Fairytales ''Brushfire Fairytales'' is the debut album by singer-songwriter Jack Johnson. It was released in 2001 through Enjoy Records, a label that was later renamed Everloving Recordings. The album's primary musicians are Johnson (vocals/guitars/piano ...

, these tracks predate Johnson's rise to worldwide stardom.September Sessions (soundtrack)
on Brushfire RecordsThe September Sessions (soundtrack)
on amazon.com

Track listing

# " Pirate Looks at 40" – 2:24 ( Jack Johnson) # "What Would You Rather Do" – 2:44 (The September Sessions Band) # "Grey's Groove" – 5:19 (

DJ Greyboy DJ Greyboy (a.k.a. Andreas Stevens) is an acid jazz DJ from San Diego, California now residing in Long Beach, California. Early in his career he was the partner of Rob Dyrdek in Crime on the Turn Tables. His style of music includes hip hop, so ...

) # "Willow Tree" – 3:27 ( G. Love & Special Sauce) # "Super Bowl Sundae" – 4:40 (

) # "Ganges A Go-Go" – 1:58 (

) # "Thug Style" – 2:27 (The September Sessions Band) # "Meaningless Conversation" – 4:42 (

Princes of Babylon A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

) # "Piglet's Lament" – 5:06 (Beat Down Sound) # "F-Stop Blues" – 3:27 ( Jack Johnson)

Special Edition

Released in 2004, ''The September Sessions'' ''Special Edition Set'' included the soundtrack CD and a bonus DVD. The bonus DVD includes extra lefts, extra rights, ''The Making of September Sessions'', and audio tracks with commentary by Kelly and Jack plus Brad and Rob.

Awards and honors

Jack Johnson received the Adobe Highlight Award for September Sessions

999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Books * ''999'' (anthology) or ''999: ...

at the 2000 ESPN Film Festival.Jack Johnson
on

Artist Direct ARTISTdirect is an American online digital media entertainment company. Overview Founded in 1994, it owns several websites, including artistdirect.com and artistdirectinterviews.com. These websites are a group of affiliate websites offering mul ...

References

External links

Official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:September Sessions 2002 films Documentary films about surfing American sports documentary films American surfing films Surf music 2002 documentary films Films shot in 16 mm film 2000s English-language films 2000s American films