Revolutions on Granite, a Ukraine skate documentary, screens at the Jamestown Arts Center on Wednesday, August 2, at 7 pm. A Q+A with filmmakers Peter Dayton Conopask and Brendan Gilliam will immediately follow the film.
Revolutions on Granite explains the history of Ukrainian skateboarding and its parallels with the region’s eventful geopolitical turmoil of the last forty years. Highlighted is the indomitable spirit of the Ukrainian people – their humility, resilience, and ingenuity.
Initially premiering in September 2021, before the Russian invasion, the film shows the two seemingly disparate worlds of skating and geopolitical turmoil found common ground in the heart of Kyiv at the Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square). This iconic public plaza hosted and fostered the invention and development of the country’s skateboarding brand in the isolated Soviet society, largely devoid of Western culture, knowledge and product technology.
This square also facilitated several important citizen-led revolutions against tyrannical regimes leading up to EuroMaidan in 2014, in which many skateboarding pioneers participated. The revolution sparked a Russian-instigated “civil war” that has burned in the East of Ukraine for the last eight years, eventually leading to a Russian military invasion in February 2022.
Filmmaker and Hopkinton, RI, native Peter Dayton Conopask began his involvement with Ukraine by becoming a volunteer skateboarding instructor in camps for Ukrainian refugees in Germany. After many subsequent visits to Ukraine, including a recent five-week stint, Peter will share his first-hand look at life in Ukraine and the spirit of the Ukrainian people.
Peter offers, “In this film, political, societal, and cultural issues juxtapose architectural discussions of aesthetics and utility. Light-hearted anecdotes and observations of juvenile escapades contrast the grave and macabre descriptions and nature of revolution, violent government suppression, and eventual war. I found the people of Ukraine to be amazingly determined and hopeful.”
The film’s runtime is 40 minutes. Additional camerawork by Todd DeSantos; original music score by Billy McFeely.
General admission tickets are $10 online in advance and $12 at the door evening of event. JAC members, students, and seniors are $8. Tickets and additional information can be found at https://www.jamestownartcenter.org/events/rev.