film

The documentary brings to the foreground a fascinating and, moreover, beautiful culture lurking in the background of other stories.

This is a passion project in the best sense of the word, a movie in which the ingenuity and dedication of the filmmakers illuminate the same qualities in their subjects.

The film is more than skating, more than the intricate and beautiful motions these skaters demonstrate. It documents community and racial pride, pride that comes from not only black culture, but from black owned businesses as well.

Directors Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown chronicle the history, examine the racial politics and pay due homage to the one neutral territory where LA's fighting Crips and Bloods forgot their differences and had fun-a black-owned roller rink.

This kaleidoscopically vibrant, essential-viewing survey plunges audiences into a dazzling underground scene, celebrating the endangered art form it finds there.

Makes you want to see if those old skates are still buried in the closet.

Charming, informative, and a little heartbreaking.

Amid it all are the joyful expressions on wheels, reflective of different cities and regions.

I was hypnotised by the way the camera was capturing these people and embedding itself on the floor, swooping and swinging with as much vigour as the people its watching.

This is a film that paints a humanizing portrait of an endangered form of expression, risked at the hands of the micro-racism and economic tribulations faced by the African-American community.