I usually don’t start my reviews with stories, but this one fit well. Working my retail day job the other day, one of the boxes in my cart had a trio of skateboards to put on the shelf. Looking at the board and spinning its blue wheels, I was intrigued by it. And this is a store that doesn’t specialize in skateboards; so I can only imagine the stuff they have at real skate shops.
But by the awe and interest I had in the board, it’s clear that something like this, perhaps mundane to some, seems to have sparked lifelong passions for the skaters in “Skate Dreams,” the Jessica Edwards documentary playing at this year’s SXSW. It shows the lesser-sung female skateboarders of their sport, all of whom are at the top of their game.
Falling in Love with and Perfecting the Craft
Even with one such star, Nora Vasconcellos, remembers back to her first skateboard and receiving it for Christmas. “This is the biggest present I’ve gotten!” she exclaims, just observing the package. Then, she celebrates as she’s gotten her very first skateboard. Watching footage from those early years to how far she’s gotten in the sport inspires in the film. She is one of the film’s main and most interesting subjects. She finds belonging in this sport and talking about it: “The process of it is very addicting, you get a high from learning a new trick,” she says. “You can always get better, you can always learn something.”
The stories in general inspire, especially one such story involving “Tin” Kouv Chanssangava; she is someone new to the skating community in the United States because she lives in Cambodia. We see her come for a tournament and she’s immediately invited onto a skate team, emphasizing the sense of community with this group. As well, within her story, it shows how global this sport is, which is a neat element.
These elements are what keep the documentary alive, as it does struggle somewhat diving into something deeper and it’s a documentary that is generally on the lighter side. The film focuses on a few stories as there aren’t enough voices within this sport; and while there are different directions the film can go, it focuses on the sense of community within the sport.
“Skate Dreams” director Jessica Edwards. (Photo: courtesy of SXSW film festival).
Focusing on the Sport; Glossing Over Pay-Gaps
It generally glosses over and pay gaps—something docs like women’s soccer doc “LFG” or women’s surfing doc “Girls Can’t Surf” focused heavily on—or a boycott of the X-Games, where other films may have dedicated bigger chapters to these topics. Perhaps the research was started, but there wasn’t enough for a story or enough for a bigger edit, which is fair.
The film also might have wanted to give bigger focus on the Olympics before it was derailed by Covid-19. A lot of the traction for the sport seems to happen in 2019 throughout the film, and there is a chapter of the sport for the first time at the Olympics, which is a great part of the film; but focusing on the road to the Olympics could have given the film have a better, singular focus.
A Film that Inspires Us and Challenges Us
Regardless, it’s a film with strong moments throughout, even if it could have gone deeper. There’s that great quote from Nora about the addicting aspect of skateboarding, and as cinematographer Jenni Morello shoots that scene, the passion for skateboarding is evident in the skateboarder, as well as everyone behind the camera and how they talk about it.
For that reason, “Skate Dreams” inspires in the way that they aren’t afraid to fail despite any obstacles in their way. They fall of the skateboard and get back up again, and usually with a smile on their face. That’s what the film stands for; it inspires us to take on something in our lives that scares us, or challenges us.
This review was taken from the 2022 virtual coverage of the SXSW film festival.
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