NEWS FLASH: For those of you who have been living under an enormous boulder your entire life, the middle east is in grave duress. How does this turmoil affect the youth growing up in Israel today, particularly those who fancy skateboards over most everything else?
In taking a brief glimpse into what appears to be a few months in the life of Israeli skateboarding culture, we follow skateboarding phenom, Mohammed Kahil. Aside from all the woes one living through adolescence must face, Mohammed, an Israeli-Arab, must also contend with a laundry list of burdens: his family’s disapproval of his Israeli girlfriend, living on his own without a job, his father’s incarceration, and oh yeah, that whole war thingy that’s taking place in his back yard. No one said life was going to be easy.
Magnificently edited, the film seems more like a Romeo & Juliet version of Larry Clark‘s Kids than it does an actual documentary. Aside from the impressive skateboarding footage, capturing a window of time in one’s coming-of-age phase of life is a feat usually left for fictional films and not easily captured in non-fiction. Here Director Karin Kainer‘s access into this youth dominated skate culture world is equivalent to a war correspondent in the heart of a real-time battle.
Sure, there were many moments of self-awareness where the kids put on an exaggerated air of coolness, but after all, isn’t that what kids do? Regardless, the candid moments more than make up for this. Not only is Skate of Mind engaging, but it also manages to frame a beautiful snapshot of an Israeli subculture for those not in its inner circle.
Showtimes for Skate of Mind:
Sun, Jul 31 – 8:50pm (JCC – San Francisco)
Thu, Aug 4 – 2:30pm (Roda Theatre – Berkeley)
wowww thanks!!!!!!
gr8 movie !!!!!
As the editor of skate of mind I like to thenk
You for your excellent review and to shere it on my Facebook page
10x
@ Itai – Thanks for sharing on your facebook page, and good job editing the footage