Kate Hickey's lively documentary feature takes us back to the beats of Venice Beach, 1984. Suffocated by the pressures of the city, young people found solace on the beaches of Venice, California, creating their own community through a shared bond—roller dancing. This phenomenon gave rise to a new way of life that united cultures and classes through the celebration of movement, rhythm and technique. At its height, the roller dancing that took place on Venice Beach showed the promise of people being together without agenda or prejudice.
But the dream didn’t last, and this vibrant multicultural circle was soon interrupted by greed, politics and incoming gentrification. Taking a look back at the golden age of the 80s, the documentary crew interviews the skaters as adults, who provide insight on their experiences of the time and their feelings on how and why the “roller dream” was taken away.
Director Biography
Kate Hickey is a filmmaker, writer and editor. She worked extensively as an editor for the HBO series GIRLS. Roller Dreams (’17) is her feature-film debut, and earned her the Audience Award at the Sydney Film Festival.
Press
"Hickey effectively uses the roller dance culture of LA's Venice Beach as a microcosm through which to explore uncomfortable truths about the country's attitudes to minority communities." - Screen International
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