Yeah Roy! Skating, Squatting, and Music in Melbourne

Synopsis

This documentary captures Melbourne’s underground squatting, skating and music scenes. In 2012, a group of skaters and BMX riders from Fitzroy transformed a derelict inner city building into a space for art, punk gigs, skating and riding. After getting kicked out by the owners, Aladdin, one of the skaters, searched Melbourne for new abandoned spaces to continue living his dream. This is his search to reclaim a lost paradise, featuring skating and music from some of Melbourne’s best skaters and local bands.

Artist Profile

Thomas Brami

Thomas Brami is a PhD candidate at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He teaches a course on film production and is writing a dissertation on the cinematic landscape and Australian film.

Credits

Director: Thomas Brami

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Director's Statement

My documentary “Yeah Roy! Squatting, Skating, and Music in Melbourne” explores the city’s urban spaces in a moment of transition – old industrial factories have been left abandoned, only for a fleeting moment, before they are rebuilt as apartment complexes. The culture, and the class and racial demographics of Melbourne’s inner city suburbs shift along with its buildings, but this documentary illuminates the abject spaces that Melbourne’s sub-cultural groups have filled with their art and raucous energy.