“The humor in The Drifter probably comes from a release of tension. The tension is subtle in the movie: strange places, a sense of lost-ness and awkward, foreign situations,” says Myers. “So when Rob breaks that tension with a light comment or an easy smile, it feels good to laugh it off. Rob’s got a great sense of humor too, so that’s just a natural part of the movie.” The Drifter follows Machado through the streets of Kuta Beach, Bali, to the remote island villages of Sumba, flirting with dangers like Bali traffic, razor sharp reefs, infections, dehydration, Dengue fever and malaria along the way.

So far it garnered rave reviews from audiences and critics, winning Best Picture at the California Surf Film Festival and the Ombak Bali Festival. The Drifter was also screened at the X-Dance Film Festival in Aspen, Colorado in January. This movie is like a feature, documentary and fictional story all at once, giving it a mainstream appeal.

“A good movie makes you feel a certain way,” says Machado. The Drifter conveys a wide range of emotions in the viewer. It doesn’t matter if you’re a surfer or a kook, this film has something that any traveler can relate to.

“It’s not your typical surf movie and it’s definitely a stretch from what Taylor [Steele] normally makes,” says Machado of The Drifter. “We put it together so it creates a story and it’s fun to go along for the ride.”

And ride is exactly what Rob Machado’s fans want to see. Machado. Ripping. Long lefts. The Drifter brings incredible, high definition footage of Rob killing it on exotic waves. One of the most inspiring scenes of the movie is Machado taking a 5’2” Channel Islands Biscuit to the limits in double-overhead barrels. While watching him thread Indo tubes it’s obvious that Rob’s smooth approach to a wave is a thing of beauty.

“As a surfer, he possesses one of the most amazing styles to watch,” says Myers. “It looks so natural, but Rob’s very conscious of making it look natural, and watching him just makes you want to surf.”

Machado has also been an icon in the sport of surfing for his chill demeanor. The Drifter makes you realize that the Gods of Cool rained down their blessings on Rob Machado. Cool surfing steez. Cool-ass afro. Even his penmanship is Cool. According to Myers, Rob is also Cool as shit.

“As a person, he brings the same sense of ease and flow to life,” says Myers of Rob Machado. “He makes you feel like you’re his friend, even if you’re just looking at him in an ad or on a billboard.”

It’s a good thing that Machado is a mellow dude because he was put through gnarly situations during the filming of The Drifter. Fourteen years ago, Steele made Drifting– the biographical, surf movie that explored Rob’s talent in competitive surfing. The two have made countless Poor Specimen movies together and—both filmmaker and surfer from So Cal—helped usher in the Momentum Generation in the 1990s. Despite having the same director and star, Drifting is a far different movie from its sequel.

“In [The Drifter Rob was] thrown into some pretty extreme situations that I wouldn’t want to bring a lot of other guys to,” says Steele who lives full-time in Canguu, Bali. Therefore, Steele knows the “ins and outs” of filming in Indo.

“Indonesia is one of those countries that you can bribe your way out of situations,” he says.

For this project Steele utilized the Oakley Red One camera– an innovative piece of equipment in digital cinematography. The crew even built 50-feet of track on the mountainside for the camera so the viewer can follow Rob surfing down the line at one of the outer island waves in the movie.

“[The Red One has] the ability to shoot a lot more than if you are shooting with film,” explains Machado. “The quality is ridiculous; being able to go into post-production and to do real color correction. And, to have [the footage] be that high quality just brings it to life.”





The Red One captures the stunning, green landscapes and the warm blue water of Indonesia brilliantly. While the imagery is gorgeous, The Drifter does a great job of bringing out the natural beauty of the Indonesian people. Their friendly, generous nature is infectious and rubs off on anyone that spends an extended period of time there. It’s their appreciation of the simple things in life that Rob finds refreshing, eventually leading him to help dig a well—paid for by a hefty donation from Bob Hurley—for an impoverished village. Rob finds a sense of peace in manual labor.

“It’s so fulfilling knowing that you’re providing someone with something so simple as water,” says Machado of his work with the Sumba Foundation: an organization dedicated to lessening the consequences of poverty in Sumba. In this act of charity, Machado finds clarity in The Drifter, highlighting the personal benefits of hard work and spending time away from the rat race.

“Sometimes when you travel you just have to follow your gut,” says Machado. “I hope The Drifter inspires people to get out of their comfort zones.”


ドリフター
「ドリフター」とは、ロブ・マチャドの半年間をパリで撮影したドキュメンタリー映画だ。このプロジェクトの為にロブは半年間、携帯電話やパソコンを一切使わずリアルにサーフィン生活を過ごした。そこらのビデオとは違い、本当のストーリーがあるサーフィン映画だ。撮影にはOakleyのRed-Oneカメラを使い、素晴らしい映像が出来上がっている。