Tomek Kotrych

Second rite of Passage

The Polish Passage Skate Co., anecdotally strong of quite the quality Norwegian connections we were introducing you to just a few days ago, are back online today with a hit, under the form of the second chapter of their new video offering, by Marcin Jakiel - and this one is dedicated to featuring some impressive talents of the more local origin this time, displayed skating around the cities of Wroclaw, Warsaw and Milan, and what's there to express - but a warning on the next seven minutes slapping you in the face. The combination of a clean production and such a raw style really does function, and even more so that the skateboarding itself is particularly insane. Difficult spots, surprising tricks, style all the way through : one more reason to reflect on how many skateboarders just kill it around the world from a gazillion of places relatively isolated from the industrial hotbeds.

Filharmonia Skateboarding / LEEF STORY / Krzysztof Poskrobko / INTERVIEW

As choke-full of odds as it essentially is, the world most often turns out to be an unfair place, especially when it comes to recognizing the labor of people who coincidentally weren't born into some "hot spot", regularly discouraging their efforts - if not their ambition. Consequently, for those, another way of channeling their drive is by refocusing on what really matters: the cultural transmission, and not just certain material means only best employed towards it realization, when it all comes down to it.
 
If Poland-based Krzysztof Poskrobko's brand Filharmonia officially announced its retirement just a few months back and was brought to our attention just a bit too late by his first name and filming session companion Krzysztof Godek (interviewed here - and the man has been dropping parts from the Repeat video "IF YOU DON'T SKATE, DON'T START" weekly on his YouTube channel as of late, here), sometimes also cruelly, pure skateboarding is timeless and to this day, the fact stands that the Filharmonia full-length productions "LEEF STORY" and its predecessor "LLUF SONG" are impeccable works.
 
Comparably to other independent productions such as Nikola Racan's "SOLSTICIJ" or the equally Polish Couch Raiders' "CONNECTIONS", they are the result of not just filming sessions but full-on thought processes and personal evolution of the author throughout a timespan of several years spent traveling the world and maturing, skateboard under the feet, camera in hand and a vision in mind.
 
Krzysztof's sharp eye for detail, good taste and cinematic atmosphere only perspires through those works as much as the strength of his motivation, so it was no surprise when after we first got in touch with him to be recounted his "LEEF STORY", the words we heard back turned out to be pretty heartfelt. Make sure not to miss "LLUF SONG", below!

Pale grey eyes

The Grey Area Polish homies are back, still with O.G. Kuba Kaczmarczyk (interviewed here, in company of recent Danny Fuenzalida footage) at the wheel, driving in an audiovisual style that seemingly gets more refined with every new output. In addition to the local cities of Warsaw and Kraków, and of a chunk of Ukraine, the filmmaker's territory now also expands to Croatia where he notably connected with Tom Remillard at various editions of the Vladimir Film Festival; so of course, Tom has a full part (or two) in this new production, alongside the notorious Kraków Kids (interviewed here) Kuba Brniak, Michal Zarzycki and Franek Kramarczyk, but also Eniz Fazliov, Michal Juras, Didrik Galasso or Chilian talent Juan Jose Moraga. The spots are crazy, the tricks are quality, the rain is universal: a solid bite into some healthy, savory grey fruit, as usual. Full article including stories and a photo gallery over at Free Skate Mag, here.

DC meets Sofia

Let's propel off yesterday's post (the full-length video "Lunch") onto another new production by the same author. This time, it is to Sofia, Bulgaria that Krzysztof Godek brings us to, on a trip there with the Polish DC Shoes team. The crew concentrated their effort around one area: the National Palace of Culture, brimming with spots and so many possibilities it's going to be a tough one to hold against them!

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