Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You Are a Girl)
“The film is heartwarming and uplifting. The smiles are genuine, and every achievement, regardless of how small is a joy to see.” — The Outdoor Journal
“Brilliantly uplifting.” — Hey U Guys
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl) is a story about girls in Kabul learning to read, write, and skateboard in a place where being a girl can mean being told not to do any of those things.
It follows a class of girls at Skateistan, a nonprofit that began as a skate school in Kabul in 2007 and grew into a multinational educational initiative. Skateistan focuses on recruiting girls from impoverished neighborhoods to not only teach them to skateboard, but to help them gain courage and life skills that will transcend skateboarding and the classroom to help them thrive and adapt to the challenges that lie ahead. Over the course of the school year, the girls grow and become empowered through the joy of skateboarding and the warmth and inspiration of the women who teach them.
More importantly, it became a love letter to the brave girls of Afghanistan, and to the idea that even in a warzone, a skateboard can become a way forward.
The film became one of the most celebrated documentary shorts of the year, winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject, BAFTA Best British Short Film, Tribeca Best Documentary Short, and IDA Best Documentary Short.
Trailer
The story
In Kabul, Skateistan created something that looked like a skate school, but acted like much more than that. It became a safe space where girls from underserved neighborhoods could learn, play, fall, get back up, and see themselves differently.
The documentary follows that transformation over the course of a school year. Through the warmth of the teachers and the personalities of the girls, skateboarding becomes more than a sport. It becomes a way to practice bravery. A way to take up space. A way to imagine a future that does not begin and end with fear.
Documentary
