"The Search for Freedom" is more than an action sports documentary. The movie by Jon Long is almost a philosophical essay on what makes someone feel alive.
The planet's brightest surfers, windsurfers, skateboarders, snowboarders, skiers, and mountain bikers will tell what it's like to explore the infinite possibilities of self-expression.
Their state of grace.
"Somehow, every time you do it, at whatever level, it somehow manages to free you from a lot of the things in life that are gonna try and sink you. It somehow allows you to leave all that behind for maybe just a moment - but sometimes that moment's enough," notes surf legend Gerry Lopez.
"The Search for Freedom" are basically human stories. The first surfers to truly devote their lives to the waves lit the fuse on a lifestyle revolution, creating a new world almost by accident.
This was a tiny tribe that questioned post-war norms of stability and acceptability, choosing fun and adventure over the safer 9-to-5.
And these trailblazers were operating way under the radar: hardly anybody was surfing in the 1950s.
"When I first conceived the movie, it was to tell a story about a cultural phenomenon. I hadn't initially planned on pursuing the theme of freedom in this film until I had already interviewed dozens of people," explains director Jon Long.
"One thing that seems to be constant is that the pursuit of freedom is tied inextricably to the pursuit of happiness. I really wanted to try and create an immersive, visceral experience, where the audience can actually inhabit those magical moments like gliding along a glassy green wave, even if they’ve never tried any of these sports."
The 92-minute-long documentary premieres on June 10, 2015.
Starring Kelly Slater, Kai Lenny, Kelia Moniz, Robby Naish, Bruce Brown, Bob McKnight, Tony Hawk, Danny Way, Jeremy Jones, Annie Boulanger, Warren Miller, Ron Kauk, Glenn Singleman, Nyjah Huston, and more.