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Following the panel conversation we held back in April this year, where the founder of Skateistan was one of the panelists, we are delighted to be able to screen this Oscar and BAFTA award-winning documentary.
This short film/documentary follows a group of girls who are attending the ‘Back to School’ program at Skateistan to help them enter or rejoin formal education. Alongside winning an Academy Award, the film has also won a BAFTA and won Best Documentary Short at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Skateistan, founded in 2008 in Kabul, runs skateboarding and creative education programs in Afghanistan, Cambodia and South Africa. Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl) is a moving account of a group of girls in Kabul and their progress through their classes at Skateistan. The Skate School is seen as a refuge from the dangers and insecurity of life outside its walls. We see the interaction between the girls and their female teachers, some of whom are former Skateistan students, and the bonds that are created between women and girls in challenging environments.
It’s fitting that the film was shot with an entirely female crew, on location in Kabul in 2017. Afghanistan is consistently ranked as one of the worst places in the world to be a girl, but the film shows another side to life and childhood in Kabul. We see the girls in the classroom at Skateistan, being guided by their teachers who encourage them to be brave by coming to the board. They tell stories to each other, joke around and clap for each other when they get things right. In the skatepark, they watch their educator in awe as she demonstrates her skills, before getting on the boards themselves and helping each other to balance.
The screening will be followed by a Q & A with the founder and executive director of Skateistan, Oliver Percovich.
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In-person Space is Limited so Register Soon Below
Following the panel conversation we held back in April this year, where the founder of Skateistan was one of the panelists, we are delighted to be able to screen this Oscar and BAFTA award-winning documentary.
This short film/documentary follows a group of girls who are attending the ‘Back to School’ program at Skateistan to help them enter or rejoin formal education. Alongside winning an Academy Award, the film has also won a BAFTA and won Best Documentary Short at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Skateistan, founded in 2008 in Kabul, runs skateboarding and creative education programs in Afghanistan, Cambodia and South Africa. Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl) is a moving account of a group of girls in Kabul and their progress through their classes at Skateistan. The Skate School is seen as a refuge from the dangers and insecurity of life outside its walls. We see the interaction between the girls and their female teachers, some of whom are former Skateistan students, and the bonds that are created between women and girls in challenging environments.
It’s fitting that the film was shot with an entirely female crew, on location in Kabul in 2017. Afghanistan is consistently ranked as one of the worst places in the world to be a girl, but the film shows another side to life and childhood in Kabul. We see the girls in the classroom at Skateistan, being guided by their teachers who encourage them to be brave by coming to the board. They tell stories to each other, joke around and clap for each other when they get things right. In the skatepark, they watch their educator in awe as she demonstrates her skills, before getting on the boards themselves and helping each other to balance.
The screening will be followed by a Q & A with the founder and executive director of Skateistan, Oliver Percovich.