The Irish premiere of a documentary on musician Jack Johnson’s evolution from rising surf star to successful surf filmmaker is due to be screened in Bundoran, Co Donegal, this Thursday (June 25).
The Eclipse Cinema in Bundoran is hosting SURFILMUSIC, in partnership with the London Surf/Film Festival, as part of a special screening tour. “A lifetime in the making, this must-see documentary is an intimate insight into Jack Johnson’s evolution from rising North Shore surf star to iconic surf filmmaker to world-renowned musician,” London Surf/Film Festival says.
“Before Jack Johnson was a stadium-filling, platinum-selling musician, he was a surfer on his way to turning pro. At 17, just a month after making the trials of Hawaii’s prestigious Pipeline Pro, a serious surf injury at the legendary reef – resulting in some 150 stitches and knocking out his front teeth – ended Johnson’s competitive surfing career and rewrote his script. This is that story,” it says.
From Surf to Stage — Jack Johnson performs before a packed crowd at Hyde Park in London in 2008. The former North Shore surf prospect went on to become a globally successful musician after an early surfing injury changed his career path. Photo: Emmett Malloy
His next step, making surf films with close friends, like the hugely influential Thicker than Water and September Sessions, featured some of the era’s very best surfers like Kelly Slater and Rob Machado. That became “the bedrock for a broad creative life”.
“Turning his 16mm lens on destinations outside the mainstream surf spotlight - from sun-drenched Tahiti to the waves and watering holes around Bundoran and beyond - inspired a generation of wanderlust, while those moments captured in and out of the water on his trusty Bolex later surfaced in his songwriting,” the festival says.
“Bringing together rare footage from these formative surf films along with personal and family archives, accompanied by present-day reflections, the film explores how lived experience, friendship, and exploration shaped the sound and stories behind the music,” it says.
The documentary is directed by long-time friend and collaborator, award-winning filmmaker Emmet Malloy.
“Jack and I became friends as college was ending and the real world was calling,” Malloy says. “We loved making films and finding good tunes to place in them. Jack was a beautiful cinematographer, and I had big aspirations for him — until I heard his music. He played me a cassette tape of his 4-track recordings, and it felt like some familiar album from my new favourite artist that I didn’t even know I had yet,” he says.
“Featuring Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Gerry Lopez, Chris Malloy, G. Love, Ben Harper, John Florence and more, this is a joyous ode to a surf-enriched life and an education in the art of freedom, friendship and fuelling the creative spirit,” the festival says.
Full details and tickets for the screening on June 25th in The Eclipse Cinema, Bundoran, are here.
