‘Skate Dreams’ Will Spotlight U.S. Olympic Skateboarding Coach Mimi Knoop
Jessica Edwards is directing and producing “Skate Dreams,” an upcoming documentary about female skateboarders, as the first Olympic competition for them is underway in Tokyo.
Produced by Film First, the Brooklyn-based shingle Edwards founded in 2010, the documentary will chronicle the rise of female skateboarding from its origins to its international debut as an Olympic sport. It will profile six female skaters from around the world, including U.S. Women’s Olympic Skateboarding coach Mimi Knoop, who are on a mission to transform the sport into a more inclusive and diverse global community.
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Gary Hustwit, director-producer of “Helvetica,” is serving as executive producer on the project.
“We’ve been working for a long time to create opportunities where none existed prior out of sheer necessity,” Knoop said. “As skateboarding makes its debut on the global stage, I’m excited to participate in a film that tells the untold story that led us to this moment.”
Through Knoop’s eyes, viewers will watch as an outsider sport once only practiced in abandoned swimming pools and vacant lots becomes the fastest growing sport in America. American women Nicole Hause, Nora Vasconcellos and Jessyka Bailey, Cambodia’s Chansangva (Tin) Kouv and Ghana’s Sandy Alibo are also featured in the film.
“Since my 9-year-old daughter decided she wanted to pick up a skateboard, I’ve been fascinated and inspired by groups of skaters defining their communities on their own terms and using the sport not just for personal independence but as a way to lift each other up,” said Edwards, who previously directed “Mavis!,” the latter about singer Mavis Staples. “As skateboarding gains global attention on sport’s biggest stage, I want to highlight the struggle and journey that it took to get here.”
Erin Owens produces alongside executive producers Hustwit, Bowie and Jeff Barnett-Zunino, Molly Gochman and Michael Armilio. “Skate Dreams” is produced in association with Topiary Productions.
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