Docus de rue : les coulisses de demain soir
Photo de Bobby Puleo © Benjamin Deberdt, sa petite histoire ici.
A l’ocasion de la soirée de projection “Wild In The Streets” de demain soir (19h, programme complet et inscriptions ici), les réalisateurs des documentaires sélectionnés, Flo Schneider (‘Bobby’, sur l’énigmatique skater pro Bobby Puleo) et Coan Nichols (‘Deathbowl to Downtown’, sur la naissance et l’evolution du street a NYC) expliquent leur idée folle : faire de vrais documentaires sur les coulisses du skateboard. Pourquoi ce questions-réponses en anglais? Tout simplement parce que les deux films seront en VO non sous-titrée. Autant s’entraîner de suite…
When did you have the idea for the film?
Coan Nichols : The original idea actually came from another guy who read an article about Andy Kessler (qui eut les honneurs du New York Times a sa mort accidentelle, en 2009) and his buddies in New York Magazine. He wanted to do a little 15 minute short film about skating in the 70’s in NYC- we started on that and then 3 years later had a film about the 35 year evolution of street skating in New York..
Flo Schneider : For the specific “Bobby” movie, when my professor told me he needed a movie from me in ten days. Well, Bobby’s footage felt very good and round and so I just edited a movie with him. This was in June 2010.
“Pushed” Trailer from Flo Schneider on Vimeo.
Why this specific topic?
Coan Nichols : It’s a cool story of the evolution of something from surfing in California to the street skating around cities all over the world.
Flo Schneider : Because Bobby Puleo is one of the fascinating characters in skateboarding. you know this without knowing him personally.
What was the most difficult part in doing it?
Coan Nichols : The time it took to make the film was the most difficult—and knowing that people would be so critical of anything we did about skating in New York…
Flo Schneider : To get answers on emails and phone tries.
Are there parts you wish you had on film at all? Or that you couldn’t capture?
Coan Nichols : Sure, there are parts of any project that go unrealized… A Mark Gonzales interview would have been killer.
Flo Schneider : I got more than I ever imagined!
Is it hard to do documentaries about skateboarding? Why?
Coan Nichols : Yes… I think it’s hard to make a documentary about anything. You are basically making something out of nothing. Some people are open and some people are hesitant—that’s the job of a director—get people to open up and reveal things that other people will want to know…
Flo Schneider : It depends whether you wanna do it about skateboarding or about persona. I think documenting skateboarding itself seems to be pretty easy. There are about a million documented tricks and impressions on video plattforms, daily, right?
Why I picked your films for that projection at la Gaite lyrique is that they tell a tale without the easy trick of drama. What do you think of documentaries whose topics necessarily involve skaters that commited a murder or went to jail?
Coan Nichols: We are not all that into the drama. We wanted to tell a story about skating and try and explain the evolutionary process that it went thru and hopefully make it universal enough that even non skaters would be interested in. I think a well made documentary can be have lots of drama and involve murder and all that stuff…its just not my thing. Both Rick and I are more into positive stuff.
Flo Schneider : General question. I can’t speak for everyone but I guess it depends on how you work with them. But realym it’s about persona. If you want to make a movie about someone with this kind of past, it has to be said. Once again, i think it becomes interesting when the object is a human and not obviously “the skateboarder” who does or did other things.
What are your favorite documentaries that involve skateboarding?
Coan Nichols : Hmmmmmm…. Not sure. That’s a good question.
Flo Schneider : The Man Who Souled The World and Format Perspective.
