The ups and downs of the 2000s’ craziest skater.
At 16, Swedish skateboarding genius Ali Boulala was on top of the world: his fearlessness and craving for the most difficult tricks attracted the attention of the legendary brand Flip Skateboards. Thanks to sponsorship deals, in the late 1990s Ali ended up in Los Angeles, at the epicenter of the craziest skate scene of the time. His charisma and uncompromising punk spirit soon made him the king. However, his rapid rise ended in a literal and terrible fall. Riding a motorbike while drunk, Boulala survived an accident that was deadly for his friend riding pillion.
As in the finest works of Gus Van Sant, The Scars of Ali Boulala reveals the outlines of a future catastrophe through flashbacks to a carefree youth. What appears to be a niche product—a skater movie with archive footage and new interviews featuring Arto Saari, Kevin “Spanky” Long, and Rune Glifberg as a treat for true fans—turns out to have universal appeal.
Whether he had it coming or was simply unlucky, what would have happened if everything went slightly differently on the fateful day, and how to survive that which is impossible to survive. . . Many years after his life-changing accident, Ali Boulala exposes and heals his scars on screen, and this is serious cinema.
The film will be screened in English and Swedish with Russian subtitles.
The Scars of Ali Boulala
Dir. Max Eriksson
Sweden, Norway, 2021. 100 min., 16+