To Live and Skate Kabul
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SKATEISTAN: TO LIVE AND SKATE KABUL from Diesel New Voices on Vimeo.
Recently, Vimeo highlighted a short called Skateistan. In the film, quick shots of chickens eating garbage, soldiers patrolling busy streets, and dust kicked up against worn down buildings are crosscut with shots of teens pushing along on skateboards.
“Skating has become a habit, and I'm addicted to it,” says the main character Murza. “If I don't skate, I become ill.”
He's gone from washing cars in the winter, the cold cracking his hands, to maintaining the local skate park for local children, his breath coming out hard in bursts of mist as he glides down ramps in the cold.
Each week 320 Afghan boys and girls go to Skateistan for skateboarding and educational classes. According to the local NG) in charge of the park, this is the only schooling many of the youth receive. For more on the NGO, check out skateistan.org.
Hat Tip: The Goat
–Joe Spring
@joespring