A new documentary rides the waves of surfing culture with the sport’s great Kelly Slater

A group of larrikin surfers bonded over boards and big waves in Hawaii in the early ’90s.

Dubbed the Momentum Generation, the group was made up of champion surfers Kelly Slater, Rob Machado and Shane Dorian to name a few.

Now, a new documentary plots their rise as household names and proves the road to stardom is always bittersweet.

Directed by brothers Jeff and Michael Zimbalist, Momentum Generation tells the story of friends who took surf culture to the mainstream.

From homemade videos to international stardom, the documentary covers three decades of storytelling from their childhoods to competing against each other for world titles.

When Kelly Slater, 46, was asked to be part of the documentary he didn’t think twice, but admits he was a little nervous.

He has taken out 55 tour titles since his first success back in 1992, 11 world titles among them and will retire after the 2019 world tour.

He was the sport’s youngest world champion at the age of 20 and propelled the Momentum Generation into the spotlight.

“Personally, it was interesting to see how everybody else saw the events of the time and how it played out for them,” says Slater, speaking from New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

“Seeing how they viewed me was interesting, too. I initially thought the documentary would be about how our generation shaped and changed surfing, but they dived in a lot deeper into our personal stories and they got what they wanted because they had a lot of time to interview us.”

In the documentary, we see Slater at his power-mongering best, an era when he was king of the surf, earned an acting role on Baywatch and started dating Pamela Anderson.

But this was also a time that saw him up against his friends – all competing for the same titles which strained their relationships as a result.

“A few of us were trying to win a world title and feelings get hurt, but that’s the way it is when you are out there,” recalls Slater.

“Looking back on that time we had to accept that the competition came first, but it did create a funny dynamic. I wasn’t always aware of how the competition was pulling us down instead of picking us up.”

It was while competing in the semi-finals at the 1995 Pipe Masters that Slater’s close friend Machado high-fived him in the ocean.

Many critics later said this enabled Slater to win the world title.

The controversial moment becomes the turning point in the documentary.

“What will catch a lot of people off-guard with this documentary, and in particular with our generation of guys, is there is another side to us that the film dives deep into,” says champion surfer Machado, who was born in Sydney and moved to America as a four-year-old in 1978.

Slater, despite his wildly competitive streak, says being a champion comes at a price.

“Competition is hard spiritually on a person,” he says.

“You experience highs and lows. Life is easy when you’re winning and to get there you are doing the right things. When you’re losing, it’s a big blow.

“It’s all a mindset and when you have high expectations of yourself like I did, I wasn’t going to let anything stop me.”

Slater and Machado are friends, still hang out and, with plenty of water under the bridge, they haven’t let the past get in the way of a good story either.

Machado, who lives in Cardi By The Sea in San Diego’s North County, says stepping away from the competitive world of surfing hasn’t bothered him.

He’s found his own groove collaborating with brands like Reef and Hurley for capsule collections, running the Rob Machado Foundation since 2004 and raising awareness about the environment.

Slater keeps busy surfing and playing golf, runs the Kelly Slater Foundation, supports Sea Shepherd among other charities and has an eco-fashion label Outerknown.

“I cried when I first saw the documentary,” says Slater. “I really wanted to blend in with those guys, but it was a time I was earning a lot of accolades and it’s interesting to see how everyone of the guys perceived me in that time.”

Momentum Generation made its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York this year where it won an Audience Award. It also screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival this year.

The documentary is where the stoner-to-stardom story is told to a soundtrack of punk – but with an ability to pull at the heartstrings, too.

“It was a super special time. A lot of cool things came together from that time and the documentary shows what a hell of a ride it’s been,” says Slater.

“We were living in a time where we all put on a tough front and never showed our vulnerable side. The beauty of life is being vulnerable and finding your gold in there.

“We made friends, lost some in tragic circumstances but came through the other side.”

MOMENTUM GENERATION IS NOW AVAILABLE ON ITUNES.