‘Hill Street’ looks at the evolution of skateboarding culture in Dublin from the late 1980s up until today. The film comprises interviews with key players in both the Irish and global skate community, including legendary skater Tony Hawk, and also features rare, never-seen-before footage. The documentary marks the directorial debut of JJ Rolfe, who is best-known for his work as a cinematographer for TV series ‘Hardy Bucks’ and acclaimed shorts ‘El Toro’, ‘Just Saying’ and ‘Scratch.’
The film initially looks at Clive Rowen, the proprietor of a unique skate shop called ‘Clive’s of Hill Street’ in North Dublin inner city. Rowen advanced the Irish skate scene by building primitive ramps at the shop before developing a temporary skate park in the Top Hat Ballroom in Dun Laoghaire. Clive later managed to convince the Powell Peralta ‘Bones Brigade’ Team, including Tony Hawk, to visit the skate park for a now historic demo.
How did the idea for ‘Hill Street’ come about? What was it that interested you most in directing the documentary?
“The start of ‘Hill Street’ for me was when I started working with the producer of the film, Dave Leahy, on a couple of different short films that he was producing about five years ago. We started talking about his idea for a film about Clive’s skate shop and it sort of stuck with me. I went away and wrote everything down into a treatment. The next thing I knew I was at a meeting where I was introduced as the director and that was it.
“What interested me was exploring a story about something that was very much counter-culture at its beginnings and watching it become mainstream. This coupled with the challenge of working with a DIY approach that we would have to employ to make it that sort of mimicked the movement itself excited me.”
How does Irish skateboarding fit into the larger, global community of the sport, and is there a specifically Irish brand of skateboarding?
“The thing that surprised all of us when we went to shoot part of the project over in the States was just how much the Irish story was reflected by everyone we talked to over there. It almost seemed like all the participants had exchanged notes beforehand! In that way I think that skating is very international, lots of people talked about friendships with people from all over the world based on skating and there is a mutual respect there.”
“What were some of the difficulties in making a film on this subject matter?
“I guess one of the biggest problems when working on a project like Hill Street is finding the balance between making something that the community can respect while also making it accessible to a wider audience. I wanted to make a film that would tell the story of how skating grew in Ireland while trying to avoid it being a linear A-B history piece. Early on I decided to keep that link to the skate community it would have to be wholly told from their side of the fence so to speak which meant not including outside voices.
“I think that the average viewer will be coming from the background of perhaps not understanding skating, or thinking of it as a menace so I felt having a voice in there from the audiences side might be counter-intuitive. I think what we have ended up with is a very fair representation of a youth movement and I'm proud of it, I'm especially proud and slightly humbled when somebody whose history it is tells me that they are happy with it.”
You would be best-known for your work as a cinematographer – how did that affect the way you directed ‘Hill Street’?
“I would have to say that I’ve been very fortunate to have worked with some very talented directors in my short time shooting things. Every time I pick up a camera, I learn something new and I think that informed how Hill Street was shot greatly. I was lucky enough to ask people who I would consider friends to shoot Hill Street and that was great as there was already a short-hand there and definitely a trust between myself and Arthur [Mulhern], and Dee [Deirdre O’Toole]. There was a pretty clear visual idea in my head that we mostly stuck to but I knew I could trust the guys to take that and improve on it.
“The shooting of the opening sequence was very refreshing as it was a chance to do something entirely creative visually and I approached that like I would if I was preparing for something I was shooting, being able to do that and take it to Arthur for his input greatly improved the sequence.”
What upcoming projects do you have? Do you think you will continue to direct or return to cinematography?
“Primarily I'm a cinematographer who has just been lucky enough to have a chance to direct. I’ve just wrapped shooting on ‘Rockmount,’ a Signatures short for director Dave Tynan, and have a couple of other interesting projects that I'm down to shoot over the summer which I’m really looking forward to.
“I enjoyed very much the process of making Hill Street. The thing I learnt from that process is that the project obviously lives with you a lot longer than when you shoot it, for me it will have to be something that I'm very much invested in to direct again but I have a few ideas floating around!”
‘Hill Street’ was produced by Dave Leahy and Warrior Films with worldwide distribution by Wildcard. Directors of photography were Arthur Mulhern, Deirdre O’Toole and Evan Barry, and Gareth Averill was sound editor and composer. Philip Kelly edited offline and Eamonn Clery edited online.
‘Hill Street’ opens in select cinemas on May 23rd. It will be available to buy on DVD or VOD via www.hillstreetdocumtary.com from June 2nd.
