Michael Oblowitz does not run out of stories. Ever. Which is proof that he chose the right path in life as a filmmaker.
He’s spent the past five years buried in two separate passion projects about two of surfing’s biggest characters — one with Sunny Garcia and another with Nathan Fletcher. Now, after a handful of winters on the North Shore and a lot of time in his Santa Monica studio piecing it all together, the latter film with Fletcher is ready for the world to see.
“It’s different. It’s dark,” Oblowitz says over the phone. He unapologetically calls Heavy Water, which will release in more than 200 theaters come June, “An Oblowitz movie,” acknowledging that his brand of storytelling relishes in digging up some of surfing’s less-than-pretty marks, especially when it comes to drug use.
“What I really wanted to do was show the roots of modern aerial surfing. Flying above the wave. It all had its roots in two dudes — Christian (Fletcher) and Jay Adams — who were notorious drug addicts.”
Heavy Water tells that story of aerial surfing’s roots while shining a spotlight on Nathan Fletcher, which actually started by Nathan chasing a dream to do an acid drop from a helicopter…onto a 20-foot wave. The stunt is intriguing, but it’s very obviously more of a backdrop for highlighting pivotal points in surfing’s history, as experienced by one of the sport’s most prominent families.
“I don’t pull any punches. I’m not trying to do the whitewash of surfing. I’m trying to show surfing the way I grew up in it. There’s a lot of radical shit in there.”
Editor’s note: Heavy Water will play in select theaters on June 13. More info available here.
