"Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)" is a British documentary short film that stays under the 40-minute mark and was releasedback in 2019, so a relatively new movie still. This won an Oscar, which is probably why it came to most people's attention, but now that I have seen it, I think tjhat not only the win is undeserving, but even the nomination is. Of course, as it is set in Afghanistan and deals with emancipation, it is obviously not too surprising that Hollywood really appreciated it. Sadly they forgot to understand that a baity premise is not enough. You also have to deliver quality and something interesting and intriguing. I don't think that Carol Dysinger, a pretty experienced filmmaker, succeeded from that perspective. It is an approach we have had many other times, namely combing an activity that is really normal to us with a country where it is not normal, especially not for young girls because there is still a great deal of discrimination going on. Funnily (or "Funnily") enough, this discrimination is deep-rooted in religion over there and yet we are supposed to eat up everything that shows progress with ultimate gratitude, but please only in small portion. Don't even think of criticizing the root of this evil. With "evil" I mean in this context that it will still take several centuries for women to have the same rights as men in this part of the world and it is definitely not just the Taliban to blame. The same scenario exists in many other countries where Islam has been the dominating (in the truest sense of the word) religion for decades.
But now let us really be a bit more specific here and take a look at this movie: First of all, you need subtitles unless you are fluent in Dari. This may be a British production, but there i no English language in here. Luckily, it is not difficult at all to find a good set of subtitles for this one here. Okay, as for the skateboarding part, I was not impressed at all. Clearly, it was just a metaphor for females being allowed to do things that bring them fun, but nonetheless, if you include this in the title even (pretty long title by the way), then you have to do better than they did here. I don't need to find out about specific moves or tricks, but maybe have several of the girls tell us how they got to skateboarding, what it means to them, what their family thinks about it etc. Instead, all we got was just scenes with the girls skateboarding and that's it. On one occasion, they used a strong contrast as we see these girls skateboard and at the same time there is an audio broadcast telling us about the evils of war and casualties from that region. It was an okay idea, but the execution was once again not too impressive. Finally, as for all the scenes of the girls at school, the interviews with them and with the teachers, these were certainly among the best parts this film had to offer. However, there was nothing they say, nothing you learnt there that you wouldn't know already if you are into the subject and have perhaps seen other documentaries on emancipation in the Arab world. Or just about life there. Really nothing stands out about these under 40 minutes. My personal suggestion is that you skip the watch and maybe go for the fictional movie "Wadjda" instead that deals in the broadest sense with a similar subject. I won't go into detail about that one, but let me assure you that it is far superior than the outcome here and the argument that this is real does not really come even close to bridging the gap between these two projects. I also have a feeling that some of the things the girls said were a bit on the scripted side, but I may be wrong here. If it is true, then that would be even more disappointing because none of their statements truly make an impact and watching them is ten times more interesting than listening to them. I think this film is a definite contender for worst Oscar winner from the 2020 Academy Awards. It's so disappointing what they how weak it all turned out because the premise really offered potential. But I said this already. So just one more word from me: Skip.
But now let us really be a bit more specific here and take a look at this movie: First of all, you need subtitles unless you are fluent in Dari. This may be a British production, but there i no English language in here. Luckily, it is not difficult at all to find a good set of subtitles for this one here. Okay, as for the skateboarding part, I was not impressed at all. Clearly, it was just a metaphor for females being allowed to do things that bring them fun, but nonetheless, if you include this in the title even (pretty long title by the way), then you have to do better than they did here. I don't need to find out about specific moves or tricks, but maybe have several of the girls tell us how they got to skateboarding, what it means to them, what their family thinks about it etc. Instead, all we got was just scenes with the girls skateboarding and that's it. On one occasion, they used a strong contrast as we see these girls skateboard and at the same time there is an audio broadcast telling us about the evils of war and casualties from that region. It was an okay idea, but the execution was once again not too impressive. Finally, as for all the scenes of the girls at school, the interviews with them and with the teachers, these were certainly among the best parts this film had to offer. However, there was nothing they say, nothing you learnt there that you wouldn't know already if you are into the subject and have perhaps seen other documentaries on emancipation in the Arab world. Or just about life there. Really nothing stands out about these under 40 minutes. My personal suggestion is that you skip the watch and maybe go for the fictional movie "Wadjda" instead that deals in the broadest sense with a similar subject. I won't go into detail about that one, but let me assure you that it is far superior than the outcome here and the argument that this is real does not really come even close to bridging the gap between these two projects. I also have a feeling that some of the things the girls said were a bit on the scripted side, but I may be wrong here. If it is true, then that would be even more disappointing because none of their statements truly make an impact and watching them is ten times more interesting than listening to them. I think this film is a definite contender for worst Oscar winner from the 2020 Academy Awards. It's so disappointing what they how weak it all turned out because the premise really offered potential. But I said this already. So just one more word from me: Skip.