build. from Nik Strong-Cvetich on Vimeo.
There is something still to be said for the underdogs who create true Do It Yourself projects, without the help of prefabricated design. With such a huge array of choices in the Unites States, it’s easy to overlook the options available to people in the rest of the world. This month, we at Mezclada.com have got skateboarding’s rise to greatness in Latin America on the display case and it's proliferating DIY projects are at the heart of what’s happening here.
DIY companies like Mercava and Aztlan Skatebaords in Mexico have surpassed the inauguration stage of “brand recognition”. For some time now, they have designing skateboards, selling their own clothing labels, and distributing the largest international brands of skate shoes, decks and accessories. Magazines are appearing all over the place, online and in print, and the pictures are taken by skaters whose passion and talents are in photography. In South America, there might be one or two skate brands fostering the local scene in each of the smaller countries, but Columbia, Brazil and Chile are making a big appearance in the world of international pro skateboarders.
One of the best ways to understand the considerable expansion of skateboarding is to check out a number of first-rate documentaries. This last month was the first ever Skateboard Film Festival in Seattle, Washington, created to promote and stir appreciation for skateboard film making on a global scale. Sixty different films were shown over one weekend and companies like Vans, Zero, and Ally sponsored skate events, parties, and prizes.
We interviewed Nik Strong-Cvetich, whose first documentary film, Build, was showcased at the Skateboard Film Festival in August. It is an exposé on the development of the skateboard scene in Uganda and Nicaragua of all places. Shot with borrowed equipment from his university library, he spanned two continents to film the first skateboard parks ever built in these countries.
Nik is a 28-year-old Seattle native, relocated to Santa Cruz, California. Like most kids born in the eighties, Nik got his first skateboard when he was 6, and he’s been seriously skating since he was 15. Growing up on the West Coast of the United States guarantees for most, a few basic rules about life. For one, if your parents are from California, Oregon or Washington you were most likely exposed to the principal theories behind vegetarian diets, the importance of conserving nature, the medical conditions alivianated by illicit herbal substances, and a pretty good dose of civil activitism.
The second rule is naturally the importance of playing outside. This is where skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding, and a whole slue of different activities come in. Being that skateboarding was created and nurtured in Southern California, it can be confidently said that almost every kid in those three states at least knew what a skateboard looked like in those days.
It has only been about 25 years since skateboarding migrated away from the West Coast. Yet today, skateboarding is reaching a level of worldwide popularity, inhibited only by the scarcity of modern design. There are random films from all parts of the world that show a glimpse of kids rolling around on a piece of wood mounted on roller-skate bearings or mini wheelbarrow tires. Europe has really just caught onto the scene but even fifteen years ago when industry crafted skateboards first arrived, people were doing tricks on anything they could find, including the metro stairs in Berlin and London.
In the nineties, skateboard videos started disseminating the idea of professional riders. In Mexico and much of Latin America, the scene was prevalent even before most of the Powell Peralta videos came out. Skateboarding, in all its altruistic glory, has created a global phenomenon, permeating urban and rural culture, promoting active kids, and bringing different cultures and peoples together.
Nik narrates the film as a travel log, describing the projects he visited and the people he met behind them. He does a lot of skateboard filming with kids doing tricks and of the parks themselves, but the camera shots with the most impact are of the communities where they come from. In Uganda he films dilapidated brick houses and young men in military uniforms carrying guns. One skateboarding advocate tells the camera the park keeps the kids’ minds off poverty and war.
In Nicaragua, colorful school buses, crowded intersections and people selling fruit on the side of road create a backdrop for a skatepark built in a donated school yard in the capital city of Managua. The Nicaragua scene is heavily influenced by native pro-skater Chico Brenes, who travels between Managua where his family lives, and San Francisco, California where he’s set up shop. He is currently sponsored by Chocolate Skateboards, DVS, and LRG Clothing. Although even with a pro behind the kids who made this park, an inept government, clashes between skate crews and no funds make the project much harder to complete.
Behind the culturally packed action visuals, there is a clear story about the positive change the new skateboard culture has created. Before gaining the confidence of his film’s subjects, he had to spend a lot of time hanging out and establishing a rapport by skating with them. Once people got used to the camera, and Nik, as a genuine skater who was interested in what they were doing, everyone started telling their story. In true DIY style, Nik shows in his film Build, how these disadvantaged kids took it upon themselves to create a sense of community ownership over their future by escaping the reality of being poor and most of all, of being bored.
“I had always wanted to make a documentary and when I heard about the Uganda project and happened to be in the country, I met up with Jack and started filming and interviewing people about what the park meant to them. I was hesitant to do a full story on how each part of the park came together, because Brian Lye (one of the main people responsible for the park’s construction) is a filmmaker and is planning on making a detailed film of the whole construction experience.
I decided the concept I was exploring was a more universal one, and I would try to find other similar projects where other communities took it upon themselves to build these places. That’s how I settled on Nicaragua. Then Dax Castellon Meyrat was nice enough to sheppard me around Managua. There weren’t a lot of people that helped me on production, but in terms of making it happen, Jack, Brian, and Dax were instrumental in getting me set up with everything I needed.”
Some of the other DIY skateparks Nik was looking into for this project included the Marginal Way skatepark in Seattle, WA and Oliver Percovich’s project Skateistan in Afghanistan. When asked about the sponsorship situation in those countries where the scene is just beginning, he said that in Africa only a donor relationship exists for the equipment and everyone shares the skateboards because “they are prohibitively expensive for most folks.”
He also mentioned one our favorite film makers, Ernesto. “I really liked Ernesto Rosa’s film “Skateborder” and have talked with him in great detail about skating in DF and other places in Mexico and the immigration issues between our countries. I also like the French film about Soy Padang—sort of a spoof ‘day in the life’.”
One of his favorite documentaries not related to skateboarding? Heavy Metal in Baghdad. “I honesty think it is the best view of what the war is really about for ordinary Iraqis. Well maybe they weren’t ordinary, being metal dudes from Iraq, but it gives us a view of the full implications of the war.”
Nik is planning on a investigative search through Cuba for his next film. It’s going to be about a guy named Roberto who is the only surfer in a tiny town somewhere along the coastline of that huge island. We wish him lots of luck and can’t wait to hear the soundtrack.
You can find out more information about the Uganda skate park at http://www.ugandaskateboardunion.org and skateboarding in Nicaragua at http://www.skatenica.com/
MI.
DIY companies like Mercava and Aztlan Skatebaords in Mexico have surpassed the inauguration stage of “brand recognition”. For some time now, they have designing skateboards, selling their own clothing labels, and distributing the largest international brands of skate shoes, decks and accessories. Magazines are appearing all over the place, online and in print, and the pictures are taken by skaters whose passion and talents are in photography. In South America, there might be one or two skate brands fostering the local scene in each of the smaller countries, but Columbia, Brazil and Chile are making a big appearance in the world of international pro skateboarders.
One of the best ways to understand the considerable expansion of skateboarding is to check out a number of first-rate documentaries. This last month was the first ever Skateboard Film Festival in Seattle, Washington, created to promote and stir appreciation for skateboard film making on a global scale. Sixty different films were shown over one weekend and companies like Vans, Zero, and Ally sponsored skate events, parties, and prizes.
We interviewed Nik Strong-Cvetich, whose first documentary film, Build, was showcased at the Skateboard Film Festival in August. It is an exposé on the development of the skateboard scene in Uganda and Nicaragua of all places. Shot with borrowed equipment from his university library, he spanned two continents to film the first skateboard parks ever built in these countries.
Nik is a 28-year-old Seattle native, relocated to Santa Cruz, California. Like most kids born in the eighties, Nik got his first skateboard when he was 6, and he’s been seriously skating since he was 15. Growing up on the West Coast of the United States guarantees for most, a few basic rules about life. For one, if your parents are from California, Oregon or Washington you were most likely exposed to the principal theories behind vegetarian diets, the importance of conserving nature, the medical conditions alivianated by illicit herbal substances, and a pretty good dose of civil activitism.
The second rule is naturally the importance of playing outside. This is where skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding, and a whole slue of different activities come in. Being that skateboarding was created and nurtured in Southern California, it can be confidently said that almost every kid in those three states at least knew what a skateboard looked like in those days.
It has only been about 25 years since skateboarding migrated away from the West Coast. Yet today, skateboarding is reaching a level of worldwide popularity, inhibited only by the scarcity of modern design. There are random films from all parts of the world that show a glimpse of kids rolling around on a piece of wood mounted on roller-skate bearings or mini wheelbarrow tires. Europe has really just caught onto the scene but even fifteen years ago when industry crafted skateboards first arrived, people were doing tricks on anything they could find, including the metro stairs in Berlin and London.
In the nineties, skateboard videos started disseminating the idea of professional riders. In Mexico and much of Latin America, the scene was prevalent even before most of the Powell Peralta videos came out. Skateboarding, in all its altruistic glory, has created a global phenomenon, permeating urban and rural culture, promoting active kids, and bringing different cultures and peoples together.
Nik narrates the film as a travel log, describing the projects he visited and the people he met behind them. He does a lot of skateboard filming with kids doing tricks and of the parks themselves, but the camera shots with the most impact are of the communities where they come from. In Uganda he films dilapidated brick houses and young men in military uniforms carrying guns. One skateboarding advocate tells the camera the park keeps the kids’ minds off poverty and war.
In Nicaragua, colorful school buses, crowded intersections and people selling fruit on the side of road create a backdrop for a skatepark built in a donated school yard in the capital city of Managua. The Nicaragua scene is heavily influenced by native pro-skater Chico Brenes, who travels between Managua where his family lives, and San Francisco, California where he’s set up shop. He is currently sponsored by Chocolate Skateboards, DVS, and LRG Clothing. Although even with a pro behind the kids who made this park, an inept government, clashes between skate crews and no funds make the project much harder to complete.
Behind the culturally packed action visuals, there is a clear story about the positive change the new skateboard culture has created. Before gaining the confidence of his film’s subjects, he had to spend a lot of time hanging out and establishing a rapport by skating with them. Once people got used to the camera, and Nik, as a genuine skater who was interested in what they were doing, everyone started telling their story. In true DIY style, Nik shows in his film Build, how these disadvantaged kids took it upon themselves to create a sense of community ownership over their future by escaping the reality of being poor and most of all, of being bored.
“I had always wanted to make a documentary and when I heard about the Uganda project and happened to be in the country, I met up with Jack and started filming and interviewing people about what the park meant to them. I was hesitant to do a full story on how each part of the park came together, because Brian Lye (one of the main people responsible for the park’s construction) is a filmmaker and is planning on making a detailed film of the whole construction experience.
I decided the concept I was exploring was a more universal one, and I would try to find other similar projects where other communities took it upon themselves to build these places. That’s how I settled on Nicaragua. Then Dax Castellon Meyrat was nice enough to sheppard me around Managua. There weren’t a lot of people that helped me on production, but in terms of making it happen, Jack, Brian, and Dax were instrumental in getting me set up with everything I needed.”
Some of the other DIY skateparks Nik was looking into for this project included the Marginal Way skatepark in Seattle, WA and Oliver Percovich’s project Skateistan in Afghanistan. When asked about the sponsorship situation in those countries where the scene is just beginning, he said that in Africa only a donor relationship exists for the equipment and everyone shares the skateboards because “they are prohibitively expensive for most folks.”
He also mentioned one our favorite film makers, Ernesto. “I really liked Ernesto Rosa’s film “Skateborder” and have talked with him in great detail about skating in DF and other places in Mexico and the immigration issues between our countries. I also like the French film about Soy Padang—sort of a spoof ‘day in the life’.”
One of his favorite documentaries not related to skateboarding? Heavy Metal in Baghdad. “I honesty think it is the best view of what the war is really about for ordinary Iraqis. Well maybe they weren’t ordinary, being metal dudes from Iraq, but it gives us a view of the full implications of the war.”
Nik is planning on a investigative search through Cuba for his next film. It’s going to be about a guy named Roberto who is the only surfer in a tiny town somewhere along the coastline of that huge island. We wish him lots of luck and can’t wait to hear the soundtrack.
You can find out more information about the Uganda skate park at http://www.ugandaskateboardunion.org and skateboarding in Nicaragua at http://www.skatenica.com/
MI.
