The skateboard film culture as we know it is evolving. From having been classically depicted in films such as Lords of Dogtown, Kids and Paranoid Park, it is now moving away from the usual tough skater rat image and tackling bigger issues such as gender, pain and trauma. The new skate films are expanding not only the visual aesthetics and values in skateboarding but also the core message. Skate Kitchen and Mid90s are two feature films being released this year and though they’re very different films set in two different eras, they both portray skateboard culture together with the agony of growing up in a world that’s tough. The same issues are highlighted in Bing Liu’s new documentary, Minding the Gap where childhood trauma, identity issues and abuse is being explored through the lens of skateboarding.

The film is compiled of 12 years of footage, filmed in Liu’s hometown of Rockford, Illinois. Liu spent years documenting himself and the lives of his fellow skater buddies. The raw footage of them skating, growing up and tackling real-life issues is combined with intimate interviews about their experiences with abuse, alcoholism and negligence. Liu also shares his own experiences with growing up in an abusive household and he explores this by interviewing his own mum about what happened in his childhood and why. It is a strong and powerful film about how to make the best of what you have been given in life, and how our childhood experiences shape us.

We ended up having a conversation about European skateboarding, how skateboarding can be an anxiety relief and why sometimes, hopelessness comes with freedom.

CC: First of all — I loved the film. I didn’t know what to expect before watching it, but I write a bit about skateboarding so…

Liu: Are you based in Stockholm?

Yeah, what do you mean?

Well, Sweden has a really interesting skateboard culture, because Polar is this really big skateboard company in Malmö. It has sort of like braced up the European skateboard industry as its own independent culture.

Now it’s like the states looking at Europe going like “Oh, man, that’s what we want to do.” So before, like this is from what I’ve heard because I obviously didn’t grow up in Europe skateboarding, but like I feel like the Europeans used to look at the US skateboarding industry and strive for that, but because of like Pontus Alv in Malmö, now there’s this movement in Europe to create their own skate thing. The videos, the music, it’s like its own style. It’s very European — in a good way!

It’s really interesting, I kind of agree because I feel like in the 80s and 90s, like growing up watching MTV, Nickelodeon, Ricki Lake, we thought it was so cool to be American but then I feel like America got too big in a way. It infiltrated all the popular culture and now I feel like we’re getting more local. Because the world is so global, it’s cool to be local now.

I like that. I really appreciate European skateboarding. That’s one perspective I have of Europe. It’s mostly the type of tricks and the way people skate and like the artwork of skateboards and brands here. But also, the types of music.

At this point Liu and I start to discuss the notion of why everybody in Sweden tends to dress the same in their dark clothes, why that is and how the law of Jante affects us. The conversation got steered in that direction due to a bubble-gum coloured faux fur coat that ehrm…the interviewer was wearing. Needless to say, we got wound up in a discussion that had absolutely nothing to do with the film. But luckily, Liu steered the conversation back to skateboarding. I’ll let him take it from here.

Liu: What I like about skateboarding is that it’s changing all the time, there’s no real authoritative figure determining what is cool or what is acceptable. It’s like direct democracy in that way.

Yeah, especially that thing you’re saying, that there’s not an authority dictating what skateboarding is or isn’t. That element brings certain types of people into the skateboarding culture. Just to take an example and connect it to your film, I started skating last year because I really wanted to learn how to skate. So last summer I was like hanging out every day in my local skate park, getting to know people, especially a lot of people younger than me. And what I noticed, and I’m super-generalising now, is that a lot of young people that spent hours and hours on end in the skate park came from troubled backgrounds, needing a sort of outlet. I feel like I saw that in your film as well. Like you all had challenging backgrounds and that somehow pushed you to skateboard. Do you see that connection and why do you think that is?

That’s why I made the film, to find out why that was. I mean there’s a reason people stayed until the lights went off and stayed even later and just didn’t want to go home. I think in a weird way we all thought that it was very particular to our lives. But as I got older I realised it wasn’t just particular to us.

I was just interested in how skateboarding and that community can be an interesting lens to look at this timeless issue of family dynamics and what it means to grow up, with trauma and abuse and pain. And how, if you’ve gotten bit by the bug of skateboarding, how that affects you growing up.

Can you see what skateboarding does for people that are suffering from anxiety? Can you see a direct correlation or how it can help? Because personally, I feel that skateboarding is helping me with my own anxiety, and I don’t know exactly what’s happening…I think it has something do to with getting rid of excess energy and being afraid of something “real” because skateboarding is scary. So, you can’t focus on your own thoughts, you have to focus on the now. Do you see what I mean?

Yeah, well the way I think about anxiety, anxiety is about control and trying to control things that you don’t have control over. And skateboarding in many ways is like a lot of other things that try to make you be present and in the moment. Except, the way skateboarding works is that — if you’re not present in the moment, you will fall and get hurt. So eventually you learn that, consciously or subconsciously. In order to make the best use out of skateboarding, you have to be in a state of mindless being. Where you’re sort of like flowing: you’re just in the flow of it. I think that’s sort of what’s happening in terms of skateboarding and anxiety.

Exactly, it’s like meditating when skateboarding or cruising.

Yeah, it’s sort of meditation in motion.

Watching your film, I got a sense of hopelessness, but also an immense sense of freedom. It’s like you guys were stuck somewhere, you were all trying to get out and move on. But at the same time… the boards were giving you freedom. It emphasised the freedom that skateboarding gives you, not only physically but in your mind. Two contrasts, side by side in your film.

I feel like storytelling should put the emotions in the story first. We’re used to the documentary genre to be very issue-driven, it can be, but a lot of my processes are learning how to put emotions in the story first. Once I started wanting to tell a story about characters growing up, then it became this slow transition into “what is the story”, what are the emotions that these people feel. People who find such freedom in skateboarding, they find such hopelessness in life maybe. And that’s okay.

Bing Liu’s film MINDING THE GAP is out now and can be watched at Hulu

Team Credits:

Words by Camila-Catalina Fernandez
Press images sourced from Stockholms Film Festival

Joakim Trier

Joachim Trier returns with ”Thelma”, a multi-layered supernatural thriller about suppression and liberation. Thelma, a girl or a young woman, from a small town at the Norwegian west coast, is exposed to a whole new world when relocating to Oslo for her university studies. As she there encounters love for the first time in her life, Thelma also painfully realises that she is in the possession of unknown powers, which are as frightening to her as they also are inexplicable. “Until now, I have been focusing on character-driven dramas and thereby emphasised the people in the film rather than the actual story. With ’Thelma’ however, I wanted to concentrate more on the plot – although still with a strong principal as foundation” says Trier.

“I never know from the start where I want to go with a film. In the beginning I always kind of fumble in the dark”, Trier explains. Regarding ’Thelma’, the work originated from the director’s own fear of losing control, which in the film is manifested by mysterious epileptic seizures, that the main character is hiding away from her family. Another thing that Thelma is forced to conceal is her lesbian relationship with one of the co-students, which would be unthinkable for her strictly religious parents to accept. As the story continues, these two secrets together start creating a dark space somewhere deep inside her. An undefinable matter, that eventually begins pushing to emerge from where it is trapped.

“I believe that there is a need to expose yourself to boredom”, Trier says. In the creative process, he and his co-writer for the past 20 years, Eskil Vogt, spend a lot of time on discussing different ideas and concepts. While they sometimes have the feeling of wasting time, the two long-time friends have come to the conclusion that they need this procedure to be able to feel what is right for each film. And eventually, from the many ideas, it starts to develop a character, a situation or an image that they can base their story on. “When you begin to see the shapes of the main character, then you know that things are starting to come together”, says Trier. “The initial work, our long discussions and conversations, is almost therapeutic. And there is also a strong element of trust, which I like to bring to the film team, at the recordings”, Trier continues. To him, the work with a movie is always an ongoing process, where it is “okay to make mistakes, as you do not always know from the beginning what you are heading for”.

”Thelma” is a multi-layered feature. It is indeed a thriller with supernatural elements, but also a kind of bildungsroman, including a love story, elements of loneliness, suppression and liberation, as well as a story about breaking free from the family. Defined by its characters, the film displays a young woman growing up in a society of different cultures, where it is increasingly hard to fit in, in many ways. At home she is restricted by her conservative and somewhat prejudiced family, as loving as they might be. In her social and university life, among other, she faces the challenging and sometimes cruel landscape of social media, with all the insecurities and questions that it brings on a daily basis.

“Thelma is a modern superhero, but at the same time a bit of a freak, who has not quite found her place in the community yet. I believe that her issues are things that the audience can relate to”, Trier says and explains that part of the objective for him when creating film is to raise important questions and join societal debates. In this case concerning topics like religion, sexuality, mental health and shame. By using a supernatural thriller to embody the realistic and complex, social context of the story, he hopes to attract a broad audience and achieve the right combination of excitement and seriousness – but also of fantasy and truth.

Marina Stepanska

”Falling” – a fragile love story about two young people looking for their place in today’s post-revolutionary Ukraine. ”The core topic is actually found in the title of the film – the acceptance of falling. In one way falling means falling in love but it also refers to falling down – going down to zero and then start over again. In Ukraine there was a time, before and around the revolution in 2014, where the whole country reached a zero point, from where we wanted to build a new society again. We still have to see how that works out in the end but at least the mentality of the people has changed, and we now have a more engaged community, which in turn puts positive pressure on the authorities.”, director Stepanska says.

The starting point of”Falling” is Stepanska’s life and the life of her friends. ”In Ukraine there is a trend to only display ’big stories’ and ’big heroes’ in media, but those characters are not real people. And it was ordinary people, just like you and me, that made the changes happen during the revolution. Hence their lives deserve to be showcased too, to a bigger audience. For me it is important that the audience are able to identify themselves with the personalities and the atmosphere of the film. And these are the kind of characters that many Ukrainians can relate to.”, Stepanska says.

At the moment, the art in Ukraine is very much influenced of social and political topics, Stepanska explains. ”People are starting to get quite tired of this kind of stories. Initially, I did not want to set my film in such a serious context. However, as I started working on the script I realised that I had to. You cannot get away from your environment anyway, just as I could not get away from it when creating the film. One day all you care about is your loved ones and your future. The next day you may be called up for military service, for instance, and there is no way to get around it. Besides, a serious, or tough story may help us to grow stronger. Or, to use the words of Aristotle: ’tragedy purifies us’.”

Laurent Cantet

”The Workshop” – a writing workshop for young people in southern France takes a new turn where one of the participants come up with a scaringly detailed text about a fictive terror attack. ”The Workshop is a portrait of young people today, who are facing a world that is becoming increasingly complex to understand. It is difficult to find a place, the adults do not recognise or accept them, and many adolescents feel alienated and live without much perspective in life. I find it very important for us to look at the way we look at them. In the film, I use the plot to embody the bigger sociological background, and with the workshop format, I had the opportunity to make the participants and teacher speak to and confront each other. During the workshop sessions, one student writes a story about terror and violence – and the film, The Workshop, then adopts the ambiance of his story.”, director Laurent Cantet says.

Cantet doesn’t intend to bring a message with a film. ”Instead, I raise a question: how can we live together; how can young people grow up today; and how can we be an active part of society, rather than just going with the flow? In the film, there is the relationship between Olivia, the teacher, and the young students, which is one of attraction and repulse, as they try to understand each other. Another example, from real life, is after the terror attacks in Paris and Nice, how there was a kind of desire in the community of being together. At the same time, I felt that this desire was in fact merely a reflection of our inability of connecting, and of how isolated many people, especially creatives, are feeling in today’s societal atmosphere.”, Catent says.

To have personal conversations with the crew is essential for Catent while recording. ”During the rehearsals we used to talk a lot, the whole crew together, and at the end of the recordings one actor came up to me and thanked me. He said that this was the first time he really had been talking to someone about existential things; like who we are and what we want. And perhaps that kind of actions is a good way to understand that the people around you may bring something that you can learn and grow from. One important aspect of ‘The Workshop’ is extremism and how it attracts young people that have not yet found their place in society. Even though you may not share their believes, extremist movements tend to offer answers and a community that you are perhaps lacking in your current social environment. It can be virtually any kind of extremism; the crucial thing is the seduction they use to gain followers.”

Gustavo Róndon Córdova

”La Familia” – a father and his 12-year-old son are forced to leave their home in Venezuelan Caracas, after the latter has injured a boy in the neighbourhood with a knife. ”To me this is an exploration of what we are doing in our closest environment. In Venezuela, violence is very spread throughout society, and the general tendency is always to blame someone else for the issues that are going on around us. I wanted to explore whether we are all responsible somehow, because of the way we act in our homes. There are two main characters in the story, the smallest kind of family. Not the family you would wish for, but on the other hand better than no family at all. At the same time, the family, as well as the plot, is also strongly marked by the absence of one character.”, director Gustavo Róndon Córdova says.

Róndon Córdova wants to raise questions with his films, rather than giving the answers. ”With ‘La Familia’, I raise the question about violence and responsibility, which I mentioned above. I do not think that the world can be changed with a film only, that would be giving it too much of responsibility. But perhaps a film can make people stop and reflect on the society we live in and how we treat each other. And that may at least lead to small changes in our behaviours. The situation in Venezuela is very difficult at the moment, just like in the film, but I still wanted to give the audience a bit of light at the far side of the tunnel. Hence the story has a kind of open ending, and it is up to the spectator to decide whether it is a ruin or something to build on.”, Róndon Córdova says.

In Venezuela, people don’t want to see films showcasing social and political issues, as they are so strongly surrounded by them in their everyday lives, Córdova explains. ”That is why I tried to present the story in a kind of playful way, with a lot of energy in the beginning, and give my personal perspective on the violence and how it has become part of our culture. While the plot may seem quite local, I believe that the aspect of family and bonds is something that everyone can relate to. Another interesting point is that in the film, the two main characters are exposed to a variety of environments at different social levels. And still, everyone they encounter kind of behave in the same bad way. That is something I would love the audience to pick up, and ask themselves: is there another possibility – how can we act differently, to make the world a better and more welcoming place to live in?”

Elina Psykou

Son of Sofia – a film about 11-year-old Misha, who is thrown into an alternative reality as he is forced to leave Russia for his mother’s new home in Athens, where at the same time the Summer Olympic Games of 2004 are taking place. ”I wanted to make a story about childhood and what it means to be a child, which also took me back down the memory lane to my own childhood. There is so much happening during these years: the whole identity formation takes place, including sexual identity, national, linguistic and politic, which is all strongly influenced by the way you are treated by your environment. And I see a strong parallel between how parents grow up their children and how a society form and educate its citizens.”, director Elina Psykou says.

”As a mother, I often ask myself what to respond to my son’s questions. And to me, the only way for a parent to find answers is to go back to their own childhood. Then, I always like to set my films to a strong social and political background. The Olympic Games in 2004 were very important to Greece, as we did not get the 100 years jubilee games back in 1996. Everyone were really proud and happy but at the same time it was like a bubble. A lot of money were spent on the stadium for instance, and in the end the bubble was deflated. It was all an illusion – just like the illusion of innocence and childhood. After the games, the innocence disappeared in Greece – the same way it does at the end of one’s childhood”, Psykou says.

Psykou says she makes film to communicate. ”What I hope with Son of Sofia is that at least someone from the audience takes the image that I have created and reflects on it. In Greece, there is a social and political crisis going on that existed long before the financial one, which has a lot to do with how the citizens are treated by the authorities and what they feel for their country. And there is still a problem in how Greek people treat each other in our everyday life. I would like the spectators to start being more conscious about the choices they make, and how they act against other people. Movies are like peaceful weapons that way, and can be used for positive change.”

Credits
Words by Johanna Bergström
Special thanks to Stockholm Film Festival

Image credits
#1 Thelma (2017), Joakim Trier
#2 Falling (2017), Marina Stepanska
#3 The Workshop (2017), Laurent Cantet
#4 La Familia (2017), Gustavo Róndon Córdova
#5/6 Son of Sonia (2017), Elina Psykou

]]> 14416 https://theforumist.com/tthe-real-housewives-of-neukolln/ Tue, 25 Jul 2017 09:58:05 +0000 http://theforumist.com/?p=12309 The Real Housewives of Neukölln is a 28-minute long documentary directed by THEM, two French-born and Berlin-based filmmakers Réda Ait and Joséphine Page, which aims to form a portrait of the queer community of Berlin by looking at queer artists and their creative explorations

The documentary depicts the makers of the eponymous drag show, which used to take place in THE CLUB, the famous gay bar in the district of Neukölln. The Real Housewives of Neukölln, “Berlin’s preeminent trash drag musical cabaret comedy sketch show”, as described by the makers themselves became a sort of emblem of Berlin’s creative queer scene and drag community in particular. It has thus contributed to Berlin’s district of Neukölln, becoming a magnet for artists from all over the world who are open to explore creativity beyond sexual and gender standards.

The documentary captures five drag artists with captivating interviews in between performances and combines them with short snippets from their actual stage performances.

The documentary shoot took place from September 2016 to April 2017, resulting in many hours of exclusive footage, which were carefully reviewed and edited by the filmmakers who describe this project as being their most ambitious project to date.

The documentary is a portrait of a “family” of artists from different cultural backgrounds who got together in order to explore the social role of a drag queen within contemporary culture and society. It’s fun to watch the artists describing their stage characters and sharing their personal motivations of doing drag on such a personal and authentic level. Each of the drag queen characters is very unique and each of the portrayed artists has a different artistic approach.

For Cheryl Nobyl, drag is about having fun with gender presentation in order to highlight the performativity of gender, because “people are taking it very seriously, but at the end it’s just a show”. Cheryl Nobyl’s wish is to have a platform to issue her vision of a transgressive queer world where people could live in. For Fanny Crackwhore, it is about being on stage and performing, and the drag performances are a “celebration of fan”. For Ash Traylia, the drag is part of self-discovery and about exploration of the feminine energy within yourself. “The masculinity is just an act you play.”

Ida Entity’s character has both masculine and feminine features: she wears a pink wig and also a moustache. Ida Entity is very aware of the transformative power of clothes. She believes that depending on what you wear you can feel more feminine or more masculine and your body language will change accordingly. And there is another question that she often asks herself: “Why is it funny for a guy to put on a wig? Is femininity something we can make a joke about?” Ida Entity doesn’t give direct answers to these questions, but Ash Traylia does to a certain degree by highlighting that drag performances have a purpose and that special energy, and that they are not glamorous. “They are not dealing with glamorous things necessarily, they are just dealing with some shit that needs to be said.” For Collapsella the drag performance is about embracing the freedom of self-expression and about questioning the binary system of gender ascriptions, which unfortunately still very present in our society. “Being Collapsella allows me to joke about what I see around me…” says Fabio, aka Collapsella.

As diverse and funny as their stage names may be, they are serious with their performances and their unique approaches to drag. With its beautiful cinematography and the exclusive footage of the Neukölln’s certainly hottest queer show of the past year, the documentary offers a unique insight into “Queer-Utopia”, Berlin’s queer artistic community and culture.

Unfortunately THE CLUB was closed, so The Real Housewives of Neukölln drag show is on a forced break at the moment, but the artists are looking for a new place to continue their work. You can still witness their incredible performances at Berlin’s Yo! Sissy! Festival. They also organize a new party series called Frrrrruity. The next party is coming up on the 29th of July, so please don’t miss it!

On the 12th of August The Real Housewives of Neukölln documentary will premiere at Lichtblick Kino in Kastanienallee 77 in Berlin. This one is a Must-Watch!

Credits:

Words by: Veronika Dorosheva

All visuals courtesy of THEM

Documentary premiere event