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Noel Black’s Skaterdater (1965) is the first skateboarding film to receive national and international theatrical distribution. It won the Palme d’Or for Best Short Film at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival, as well as several prizes at international film festivals, and was nominated for an Academy Award. All the skateboarders in the film belonged to the Imperial Skateboard Club in Torrance, CA, and footage was shot in Torrance, Redondo Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, and San Pedro. No dialogue, so the ambient sounds of wheels on sidewalks, parking lots, and streets are in the foreground. Soundtrack by Mike Curb and Nick Venet. Davie Allan and the Arrows play the theme, “Skaterdater Rock”. One skateboarder, Gary Hill, was national champion in 1964 and became a well-regarded artist working in sculpture, video- and sound-based installations, and performance: Hill has commented that the members of the Imperial Skateboard Club were the best freeform skateboarders of that time.
