Nutcase or exceptional talent? Dutch adman Billy Pols, known for his Sportlife and Nestlé ads, makes no judgement in this documentary about Rotterdam skateboarder Tim Zom. Others do it for him. Zom is a wanker, a difficult git and pig-headed, according to his stepfather. If she’d known what was in store she would never have had kids, says his mum. Pols paints a raw portrait of a difficult street kid full of aggression with a dark past from a south Rotterdam problem area using painfully honest interviews. Zom’s life was saved by skateboarding. The intangible Zom, nicknamed Zombie, even became an international celebrity skateboarder. This documentary is full of impressive tricks, kickflips and rail grinds, but director Pols mainly focuses on the hard-to-fathom Zom himself, still fighting the difficult circumstances of his life.
Film details
- Country of production
- Netherlands
- Year
- 2014
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2014
- Length
- 70"
- Medium/Format
- DCP
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