"Dunja" / Rios Crew x Belgrade Zoo / PREMIERE
it's not just that the budapest-based Rios Crew no longer needs an introduction, but also that they may not want any. in an social environment where it's commonly deemed good to seem core and raw so as to use it as a personal marketing ploy, it's tempting for many young western adults to try and look edgy by occasionally bumming a skateboard off the right people at the right skatepark to film a flatground kickflip bound from birth to be slow-motioned under a kaleidoscopic shower of the right sweatpants, flaunting the right logo. flooded with fake promises, what place is left for those who refuse to turn their skateboard into an accessory; for they have nothing to sell, but push anyway, toward a notorious nothing to get? that's exactly what the rios did, as immortalized in their new video "dunja" [watch above] alongside belgrade zoo in montenegro, then some old acquaintances in Croatia at this year's Vladimir Film Festival. no hardware to sell, just rocks to kick - don't hang up!
LIVE Skateboard Media: So, this new video is a joined clip with another crew: Belgrade Zoo, may you please introduce them to our readers? You've worked with them before, haven't you? How did the connection happen? Would you describe your respective spirits as similar?
Rios Crew: Belgrade Zoo is a young gang from the capital of Serbia (Belgrade). Real Balkan style is what they represent. Levels of chill attitude and street awareness are on top.
Belgrade Zoo. Ph.: Luke
Personally, I've known their main head, Bozidar, for a while. And for a while we were talking about the idea of maybe making something together, involving both crews. Which finally became a reality last year, when we made our first video in Belgrade. The first connexion with them guys, we felt like we all had known each other for ages. We felt like similar little tight crews from smaller cities, and had similar interests, and "underground" attitude just hanging out, slacking on the streets.
"Real Balkan style is what they represent. Levels of chill attitude and street awareness are on top"
Belgrade is the best city I've ever been to in my life - an experience only complemented by the presence of the Belgrade Zoo gang. No other city has the same atmosphere. People there are really into doing their own thing... They don't give a damn about nothing! I am happy we're in touch with them!
Ph.: Bence Bàlint
LSM: So this is not (all?) Budapest footage, you went to different places to film. Where did you go?
Rios Crew: No Budapest footage.
Actually, we started out by organizing this trip with the Belgrade Zoo boys, then three people from San Francisco jumped in, including our friend John who had already spent a month in Budapest last year. We traveled from Budapest to Sutomore by car; the Belgrade Zoo boys came from Belgrade some by train, some by car. It's a long, long journey with breathtaking landscapes: mountains aplenty, but also a lot of garbage and many homeless dogs.
Ph. : Milos J.
Sutomore is a small party beach town in Montenegro. We crashed and chilled at a house belonging to relatives of Bozidar's - bless them! - up in the mountains. That town has no spots to skate, so we spent a lot of time relaxing and swimming in the sea. We went on a few trips to neighboring cities, such as Budva or Podgorica, to try and get some clips in between two Dunja and Niksicko sessions [editor's note - those aren't skateboarding practices]. Then after nearly a week spent chilling up there in Montenegro, we all relocated to Belgrade for a couple of days.
"The citizens are tolerant, but we did run into some problems"
Then the last section of the video was filmed in Pula, Croatia during the Vladimir Film Festival, featuring the Rios Crew alongside the newly reformed S.S. [Straight Smokin'] crew.
Akira Fukui, 50-50 in Pula, Croatia. Ph.: Richard Hart
LSM: How come you regularly seem to run into the same foreigners? Say, Connor [Kammerer] and Zach [Chamberlin] - you had already met them both last year in Budapest, on the first Push Periodical "Partial World Tour"; and now you're seeing them again in a completely different country, Croatia.
Speaking of which, we've had the pleasure to see you at the Vladimir Film Festival several times before - how do you like it there, and how is it to skate in a city such as Pula?
Rios Crew: We just stayed in touch after last year's Push Partial World Tour was over. Croatia is so close to our country; as soon as we heard that Zach and Connor were going there, alongside many other friends coming to the Vladimir festival, it became out of question that we should go. We were so hyped to meet again! We had missed them, and you, and Nikola, and everybody.
Akira Fukui and Zach Chamberlin. Ph.: Connor Kammerer
Pula is a great city; we really only got to skate it for a day and a half, because of the rain.
It was a pleasure to explore the city with other people from so many different places around the world. The place is small, though, so it may get a bit too crowded with skaters around that time of the year. The citizens are tolerant, but we did run into some problems. Anyway, it's a great city with some cool architecture; however, even though it was our second time there, we did stick to nothing but downtown again - typical tourism!
But of course, we want to come back next year, and hopefully discover Rijeka!
Mascu Feri, nosegrind. Ph.: Bence Torta
One last story! The video is titled "Dunja" not just as to name it after that one pear exilir. We actually smuggled a dog from Montenegro to Hungary - a real homeless dog from Montenegro. Normally, dogs need a passport to cross a border, but we'd just sneak the dog under our seats; at the border between Serbia and Hungary, you're actually supposed to get the dog off the car. But everytime, our "Dunja" knew exactly how and when to hide and be quiet - the dog assumed the most perfect behavior at every single police check!
