Plots(1)
Grave monuments and memorials make great spots for skateboarding – up until an angry Abkhazian rushes to drive the hooligans away and to keep them from disgracing great men of history. Abkhazia is an area of a couple of hundred thousand residents. Its independence is yet to be recognised by everyone but Russia. When a group of three Finnish skateboarders head towards the Black Sea, it becomes clear very quickly that Abkhazian history has given grounds for numerous memorials. Equally clear is that these parts of Caucasia have not seen skateboarders before or heard their rattle.
Vantte Lindevall's Abkhazia does not attempt to present theories of urban culture taking equality forward, nor does it mull over the fate of former Soviet nations. Freedom is at the core of the philosophy of skateboarding, and freedom is embodied in Lindevall's film also. It is an entertaining travel diary that gives even a layperson the jist of skateboarding video culture.
Translation: Maija Vikman
(Helsinki International Film Festival)
