New Burmese skate film soon

Award-winning Queenstown film-makers return to Burma later this month to capture skateboarding youth in their element and take their film to the international festival circuit.

Camera operator, producer and director James Holman (30), of Hot Knees Media, teamed up with freelance production runner Toby Mills (24), on second camera and production managing duties, to prepare for their month-long and self-funded adventure in the Southeast Asian country.

Mr Holman, originally from England, and fellow film-makers and skateboarders Alex Pasquini and Ali Drummond recorded their experiences with the Burmese people in 2009. They released their edited footage as Altered Focus: Burma, which won the best independent and emerging film-maker award at the 2011 International Skateboard Film Festival in Los Angeles.

"When we were in Burma three years ago, Ali spent much of the following year getting to know those guys and the skateboarding community called Speed Ring Skate Club in Yangon," Mr Holman said.

"Youth of Yangon is going to focus on Burmese skateboarders in their day-to-day lives, why they love to skate, what it means to them, especially from a female perspective, because it challenges social conventions."

Mr Mills, a Queenstown resident born and raised, was brought up in the film industry and met Mr Holman through contacts. He said he could not wait to get to work in Burma.

Finding time to edit the expected 15 to 20-minute short film would be a challenge, as Mr Holman's other documentary project, Born to Run, required him to shoot in Sydney, the Sahara Desert and the Antarctic, before a break in London over the next three months.

However, he hoped to cut a trailer for Youth of Yangon in November to post on the Hot Knees website, then complete the film in time for the prestigious Newport Beach Film Festival in Los Angeles in late April.

The documentary would eventually be available to watch free of charge on the Hot Knees website.