Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Sometime last year, an artful and amazing indie skate short was rejected by the International Skateboard Film Festival. My friends who made it were philosophical, but I was pissed. What was the point of calling for–and charging for–entries to such an event if it was just going to screen industry-backed skate vids (which receive big-budget premieres anyway)?
So I was motivated to hit up my friend Tim, who programs the Asian American Showcase for FAAIM in Chicago. He liked the piece a lot, and suggested that I assemble an entire program of skate videos. I thought about it and realized that I had other friends with works that had not been seen, realized, or shown in the U.S. This was a good opportunity to help get their work out.
After months of correspondence/hounding via email, the lineup has been finalized and the screenings will take place on Saturday, April 14 at the Gene Siskel Center. Tim asked me to summarize the films for festival purposes, and I thought I’d share them with you, too. What do you think? Any chance we’ll meet in Chicago? Got a screen where you’d like to show it? Let me know!
On Saturday night, the HUF warehouse hosted a reception for the singly named Haroshi. But the Tokyo sculptor isn’t some poseur who simply paints on skateboards or appropriates the culture for street cred. His pieces (made out of used boards by DLX team riders in this particular case) actually capture and convey the energy and power of skating from a skater’s point of view. Probably the smoothness, too, although rent-a-cops were stationed to keep guests from fondling the art.