King Skate: Pioneers of Czech Skateboarding in Cinemas. What a Ride!
King Skate had a world luxury début at the International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary. The gala première took place at the Štvanice skatepark. An unending party on a wheeled board may begin, King Skate is now on in cinemas and it is well worth going!
"It was something else entirely, something completely new. An unending party, adrenalin, doing something different.'
These are just a few memories of the protagonists of the King Skate film who in the 70's and 80's became pioneers of skateboarding in Czechoslovakia. They created their own free world behind the Iron Curtain by means of home-made boards, speeding through the streets.
The world, skateboard-style
The group of enthusiasts, consisted of such names as brothers Forman, Ivan "Beak" Pelikán, or future World Champion, Luděk Váša. Their world is now presented to us in this document with the help of unique archival shots by director Šimon Šafránek. His way of capturing the authentic atmosphere does not concentrate only on skateboarding as such, but also on the extraordinary human stories of the past. The period of prohibitions, when skateboarders had to make their own life ride. Now viewers can at least for a few minutes live through it all with them.
"It was a capitalist sport, a completely different world and therefore great rebellion, one couldn´t even sit down on a lawn."
"When in 1976 they let us go to see our father in America, who was nominated for an Oscar for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, someone asked him there: Have you bought a skateboard for your sons? You should," remembers son of Miloš Forman, Petr, how he himself was faced with western fashion, about which we could just dream in the then Czechoslovakia.
We cut off chopping boards
The document, King Skate, is unique in that its luxury screenplay was written by life itself. The idea of a film about skateboarding in our country was incepted after its director, Šimon Šafránek had read the book by Michal Nanory and Martina Overstreetová, We cut off the Chopping Boards.
"I saw it as a kid in some American a cartoon which passed through my hands."
Whether it is this or that, they always have a luxury story for the viewers which will play at their heartstrings or make them laugh. The history of skateboarding here dates back to the year 1977, when in Prague there is a place in Strahov, later in Pilsen, Polička (designated slalom city), in Žacléř (there was a ramp in the forest, ended by a radius), Brno, Olomouc and in Karlovy Vary. In those days there was, until 1985 a drained swimming pool in operation, in the shape of a kidney. In the same year, ´Beak´ brought Claus Grabký (vert) and Shane Rose (freestyle) from Great Britain. It is Shane Rose who is the cherry on the cake also in the King Skate film.
Authentic footage
All protagonists brought to the document their own luxurious shots which are one of the most important parts of the story. Thanks to their diversity every viewer can find in King Skate his own favourite aspect. Nostalgia, a story of unknown sport in our country, love, authenticity, beautiful music, shots from the times past, a memory or a funny story from real life.
"Sometimes in the year seventy-six, when I was at the technical college, the ABC magazine published some plan for the first time. It was more like a picture taking up half a page, in basics how the skateboard works, how does it turn. Because there were various pictures already before that, that one can ride on tarmac, but I assembled it according to the instructions for the first time. They were ´trucks´, i.e. the same as nowadays but they were made of iron, which could be welded and that is how we then began to ride" describes Ivo Škrabal.
What is the meaning of skateboarding for the founders themselves?
Ivan ´Beak´ Pelikán, father of skateboarding and snowboarding in the Czech Republic, and freestyle pioneer: "Skateboarding is affair of the heart for me, even though it is a cliché. Lifestyle, friends or life itself - that is skateboarding."
Petr Forman belonged to a group which during normalisation here spread the western free spirit and rebellious entertainment: "It was exceptional. And who could do it was exceptional. Thanks to that I got to know people with whom I have a bond to this day, some connection. The common thing is skateboard."
Luděk Váša, in 1987 the world champion in the highest air jump on a skateboard: "Skateboarding was my whole youth. Absolutely everything."
Škrabalová Renata, coach of skateboard slalom in Polička, Czech world champion in skateboard slalom: "To me, skateboarding means friendship,"
Škrabal Ivo, one of the first-ever skaters in Czechoslovakia, skateboard producer: "To me, skateboarding represents family,"
Miroslav Bartoš, founder of skateboarding in our country: "For me, skateboarding is the meaning of life, the number one."
Petr Pletánek, founder of skateboarding in our country: "To me, skateboarding is magic, that is all."
The first skateboard was supposedly discovered by Petr Koting, who used to go to dancing lessons on something like that, as far back as in 1969.
Stick to the concrete. Speed through the space. Have it all in motion. Skateboard! In the greyness of ČSSR in the 70´s and the 80´s it is something completely different, completely new. Love at first sight. An unending party. Adrenalin. Iconic characters of the Czech as well as world skateboarding in stories of broken bones, enduring friendship and a wild ride for freedom in the middle of communism. That´s King Skate!
According to a survey from the beginning of the millennium, skateboarding had over 18 million fans world-wide, of which 85% was under eighteen and three quarters were of male sex. Martin Kopecký was very important for development of skateboarding in Czechoslovakia. He had published the first ever skateboard magazine in our country “Smyk” (in translation “Skid”. This magazine had already been published in the 1980s and was instrumental in the informing of skaters about news on the Czechoslovak skateboarding scene.
The King Skate film had a world première at the Karlovy Vary international film festival, where it won enthusiastic reviews of the audiences and a position in the TOP 10 according to viewers´ votes. The première in Štvanice was attended by over 1,200 people.
Evaluation of Luxury Prague Life: 80 %
PREMIÉRE: 20. 9. 2018 DIRECTED BY: Šimon Šafránek
SCREENPLAY: Šimon Šafránek
CAMERAMAN: Jiří Chod
CAST: Petr Forman, Matěj Forman, Míra Bartoš, Honza Šik, Ivan „Beak“ Pelikán, Honza Peterka, Zdeněk Pecháček, Renata Škrabalová, Ivo Škrabal and others.
GENRE: Documentary
LENGTH: 80 min.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Czech Republic
