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| Dropping In, 2015 |
The skateboarding oriented short Dropping In was selected among five winners for the coveted title of 2015 Sundance Film Challenge Winner, out of over 1,000 submissions. Inspired by true events, Dropping In follows the coming-of-age journey of Sam (Sam Masuku), an informal settlement dwelling youth in South Africa who is taken under the wing of a skateboard park owner, Marcus (Damiane van Reenen). Marcus soon becomes Sam’s skating coach and mentor.
The film was inspired by the story of a Jeffreys Bay (the heart of South Africa surfing) surfer who conquered the vices of drugs through finding his calling in surfing. Following this unorthodox path, the surfer changed the lives of locals and helped pave the careers of current South African surfers. In Between 10and5, Willem van den Heever (Dropping In writer, producer, editor and director) said this man, “didn’t only teach tourists and holiday goers how to surf, but also some of the kids on the street. His aim was to help them invest their energy into something positive. And this is how some of the street kids have winded up as professional surfers, surfing for South Africa today”(Between 10and5, 2015). the film, Sam too goes through the process of overcoming his troubles through skateboarding.
In a RYOT Interview, van den Heever said, “as a young South African coming out of school, you only have a few choices because I think South Africa is a bit conservative when it comes to your job and what you’re going to study..so things like studying art, or film or anything alternative except for the norm like science or economics, is really way out” (RYOT, 2015).
How many of you chose/are choosing to go against the norm in your studies or careers? How was it influences by action sports? Or the arts...etc?
Let’s weigh in BSC readers!
Follow @Willemdafilm on Twitter to let him know your thoughts on Dropping In
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Check Out the 2015 Sundance Film Challenge Winners Here