The short film Jas Boude (2014) has recently been blowing up online. Directed by Georgina Warner & Imraan Christian, the documentary details a day in the life of a group of young skaters from Valhalla Park on the Cape Flats. In just 13 minutes the film weaves slick skating footage of the 20SK8 collective with pointed commentary on social inequality.
Valhalla Park is plagued by gang violence and drug addiction, fuelled by the desperation of poverty and the legacy of Apartheid segregation. The severity of violence drives the narrative as the local skate park is simply too dangerous to use most of the time, meaning that the crew has to travel to the Cape Town CBD. The contrast is stark, with the film highlighting the separation between the comparatively wealthy urban core and the poor surrounding areas. Skating allows the crew to feel like they are ‘taking over the streets’ in a world where ‘the infrastructures were never designed for us’. But this sense of freedom is constantly interrupted by overzealous security guards and suspicious residents. These contradictions are evidenced in their visit to the Gardens skate park, situated under a freeway. While the city government presents this space as an act of charity, the skaters note that it was actually installed to keep out the homeless people who used to sleep there.
The crew returns to Valhalla Park, and to the harsh realities of life. As with many impoverished areas in South Africa, violence and despair is compounded by lack of basic services. In 2014, for example, protests broke out after residents had been without electricity for eight months. Against such a context it would have been easy for the filmmakers to make an overly didactic work. Fortunately, they take a more subtle approach, using character narration, smooth editing and a propulsive soundtrack to tell the story. The brutalities of existence are ever present- from newspaper headlines detailing murders to stray allusions in the dialogue. But what makes the film truly memorable is the focus on how its protagonists use skateboarding to attain a sense of freedom and purpose.