BFI Programme Celebrates 50 Years Of The Southbank’s Undercroft Skate Space And Go Skate Day
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Carl Roberts 
The BFI drops in for the ‘Push Play’ Skate Cinema Program, commemorating 50 years of the iconic Undercroft Skate Space and celebrating global Go Skateboarding Day.
The BFI Southbank marks 50 years of the iconic Undercroft Skate Space, the neighboring area beneath the Southbank Center that skaters have made their home for half a century. The celebration includes a weekend film program, PUSH PLAY, in venue at BFI Southbank (19 – 21 June). Meanwhile, the program is also available online to BFI Player subscribers UK-wide from 4 June onwards. Widely considered the birthplace of British skateboarding, the Undercroft Skate Space became a global destination for skaters. In addition, it is also one of the oldest continuously used skateboarding locations in the UK. This space spans five generations of skaters.
A CELEBRATION OF THE ONGOING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SKATEBOARDING AND FILM
Skateboarding continues to be a rich subject for film. In turn, film has inspired skaters and artists to explore their own creativity and ways of seeing the world and their place within it. PUSH PLAY at BFI Southbank celebrates this ongoing relationship between skateboarding and film. The event features in-conversation events with Academy Award-winning filmmaker, skate filmer and Girl skateboards owner Spike Jonze (live from New York). Also included is skateboarder, artist, model and Thames fashion owner Blondey McCoy.
The program also includes the UK premiere of French drama, OLLIE (2024) by Antoine Besse. Furthermore, classic skate cinema titles feature as well, including a rare screening of Jonah Hill’s directorial debut MID90S (2018). There is also a Skate Shorts program and discussion with some of the voices shaping the contemporary skateboarding scene. The discussion is hosted by Professional skater Helena Long.
PUSH PLAY
PUSH PLAY marks the final weekend of the Southbank Center’s Skate 50, a multimedia exhibition telling the history of the iconic skateboarding space and the communities it has fostered over the past 50 years. This is part of the Southbank Center’s 75th anniversary celebrations. It also coincides with International Go Skateboarding Day on 21 June, a day for the global skate community to come together. On this day, events are happening worldwide.
The Push Play event is curated by Ben Luxford, BFI Director of UK Wide Audiences, and Film Studies Lecturer Siobhan Browne. Skateboarding is often seen as a refuge, an escape, and an identity. However, it is also an intrinsically creative endeavor. PUSH PLAY champions skate cinema’s vibrant cultural space for dialogue between cities, generations, and creative practices. This goes beyond nostalgia or surface subculture.
OLLIE OPENS THE WEEKEND PROGRAM
The weekend program opens with the UK Premiere of Antoine Besse’s feature debut OLLIE (2024) on 19 June. It is followed by a Q&A with the director. Following the death of his mother, 13-year-old Pierre moves in with his father in rural France. Seeking escape in skateboarding, he meets a troubled seasonal worker and former skateboarder. As a result, they form a bond that may heal their lives.
The hugely anticipated event, SPIKE JONZE IN CONVERSATION LIVE FROM NEW YORK, on 21 June, will revisit key clips and highlights from the acclaimed filmmaker Spike Jonze’s groundbreaking skate videos on the big screen. These include works from VIDEO DAYS to PRETTY SWEET and everything in between. The retrospective is followed by an in-conversation with Jonze, hosted by journalist Farran Golding. They discuss the continued presence, evolution, and inspiration of skateboarding throughout his career. The conversation will beam in live from New York.
BLONDEY MCCOY
Artist, skateboarder, model and Thames fashion brand founder Blondey McCoy also joins us on 20 June to discuss his career, his relationship with film and to introduce his film choice for PUSH PLAY, Robert Hamer’s classic Ealing comedy KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (1949), starring Dennis Price and Alec Guinness.
DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS 25TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING
PUSH PLAY also serves up two era-defining skate cinema titles, with a 25th anniversary screening of pioneering skateboarder Stacy Peralta’s definitive Sundance-winning skateboard documentary, DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS (2001), on 21 June, a portrait of the pioneering 1970s Zephyr skating team in Southern California.
SKATE KITCHEN (2018), Crystal Moselle’s authentic coming-of-age docu-drama, on 20 June, following a group of young women navigating friendship, identity, and independence through skateboarding on the streets of New York. The film is inspired by the real-life Skate Kitchen collective. It captures their style, energy, and sense of community.
MID90S AND SKATE SHORTS
20 June will also see a rare screening of Jonah Hill’s directorial debut, MID90S (2018), a powerful coming-of-age story which takes us back to the era of tiny wheels and very big trousers. Stevie, a 13-year-old in 1990s Los Angeles, with an empty summer ahead and an unhappy home life, seeks solace in a group of older skaters. Because he is chasing acceptance and friendship, Stevie pushes himself and those around him to the limit.
Elsewhere, SKATE SHORTS is a celebratory tour of the spaces and architecture claimed by skaters around the world, including London, Lagos, and Italy’s Milano Centrale, with a series of new and classic shorts capturing the vibrancy and creative pulse of diverse communities, shot by those who know them best. The seminal Isle film VASE, shot by Jacob Elliot Harris, will screen as part of this program. The Go Skateboarding Day program on 21 June will be followed by a discussion with some of the voices shaping the contemporary skateboarding scene, hosted by professional skateboarder Helena Long.
FOUR TITLES ON THE BFI PLAYER
In addition to complementing the PUSH PLAY program, there are four titles available UK-wide to subscribers on BFI Player. Starting June 4, you can catch MINDING THE GAP (2018), Bing Liu’s powerful Academy Award-nominated documentary that follows three young men navigating the challenges and triumphs of adolescence in their Rust Belt hometown. Also available is BOARDERS (2021), co-directed by Sean Fee and Annika Ranin, which explores the evolution of skateboarding in the UK from its roots in the early 1970s to its rise in popularity today, including its debut at the Olympic Games. Plus, don’t miss SKATE KITCHEN and OLLIE, which will be added to the platform on June 22.
Get your tickets and the full details for Push Play at the BFI Southbank on 19th-21st June today.
Introducing Carl! As the News Editor at Future of the Force, Carl has been an invaluable member of our team since early 2016. His expertise and dedication have made him an integral part of our editorial staff. Beyond his professional role, Carl is a fervent supporter of Liverpool F.C. and an avid follower of pop culture. He has a deep passion for Halloween, Friday the 13th, and the iconic movie franchises Star Wars and Star Trek.
He can be found either at his neighborhood cinema, enjoying the latest releases on the big screen, or at home streaming the newest blockbuster movies.
