''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 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 fre ...
and
Shane Dorian as they surfed flawless waves off the coast of
Sumatra 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 music[September Sessions]
on Woodshed Films website[September Sessions (DVD from Studio 411)]
on amazon.com[September Sessions (DVD from Umvd)]
on amazon.com[The September Sessions]
on IMDb.com
''The September Sessions'' was the result of this historically important piece of
surfing, filmmaking, and music.
Synopsis
Kelly Slater,
Shane Dorian,
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 fre ...
, and others take a freesurf trip to the coast of
Sumatra, 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 ...
and music.
Cast
In alphabetical order:
*
Shane Dorian
* Luke Egan
* Brad Gerlach
*
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 fre ...
*
Kelly Slater
* 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, and Johnson himself. Jack performs his own version of
Jimmy Buffett'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 Records[The 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 (
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 ...
)
# "Ganges A Go-Go" – 1:58 (
Bombay the Hard Way)
# "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: T ...
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