Skateistan Doc Wins 2 Awards in L.A. Film Fest!

Skateistan is extremely proud to announce that the documentary film To Live and Skate Kabul by director Orlando Von Einsiedel has won two awards at the 1st annual L.A. Skate Film Festival. The nine-minute documentary featuring Skateistan was awarded "Best Documentary" and "Best Photography" during the awards ceremony on September 2.

The film was shot in January 2010 and shares the thoughts and experiences of two young Afghan skaters, one male and one female. Murza and Fazila have both been a part of Skateistan since before the indoor skatepark/classroom facility was built in late 2009. They first began skating at Mekroyan fountain, an empty, Soviet-era concrete bowl in Kabul. Von Einsidel's beautifully shot documentary follows them through the streets of the city: it shows them skating the corridors of the battered and broken Darulaman palace, and playing on their boards with other kids in the empty Russian swimming pool on Bibimaru hill (which has never been filled with water and was used for executions under Taliban rule). Today, both Murza and Fazila teach skateboarding to other Afghan youth at the Skateistan Park.

The documentary will be shown at other festivals around the world this fall. The trailer for To Live and Skate Kabul can be seen here.