Long before meeting Patrik Wallner a few months ago I was aware of his nomadic lifestyle and his brilliant photography thanks to his website Visual Traveling. Patrik recently released 10,000 Kilometers, a documentary about an epic skate trip he organised last year. We asked Will Harmon to review the film and he kindly obliged.
- Henry Kingsford
Filmmaker Patrik Wallner on location in Mongolia. Portrait Kirill Korobkov.
Creating a skate documentary that you want to watch more than once is an almost impossible task. Inevitably, the interviews and the slow pace of skate documentaries reduce them to one-watch wonders. But Patrik Wallner’s 10,000 Kilometers documentary differs from the rest of the mediocre pack. The chronicle of ten international skateboarders traveling on the Trans-Siberian railway from Moscow to Hong Kong is indeed a captivating and entertaining watch. In addition to seeing never before seen skate spots in cities like Irkutsk, Xi’an, Yekaterinburg, Omsk, and others, perhaps one of the most surprising aspects of the film is the high level of skateboarding abilities showcased by the international crew of travelers. Sure most have all heard of Kenny Reed, Dan Cates, Michael Mackrodt, and John Tanner on these shores, but lesser-known skaters like Danny Hochman, Stas Provotorov, Laurence Keefe, Lesha Naimushin, and Dan Zvereff truly amazed with their creative approach and sheer level of ability. A frequent “I’ve never heard of this guy, but he rips!” was heard several times as I played the DVD for a few friends.
The Crew in Mongolia. Photo Patrik Wallner.
The documentary follows a group of English, German, American, and Russian skaters on their two-month cross-continental journey in the summer of 2009. Wallner managed to keep the pace rolling in the docu by inserting amusing and sometimes comical commentaries and interviews with the skaters involved. The film succeeded in omitting the all too common dull documentary moment. Whether it was a never skated Russian marble sculpture or a crusty, rugged bank to wall in Mongolia, the crew managed to find something interesting to skate in every city – even The Great Wall of China was sissioned!
John Tanner frontside slides from Asia to Europe. Photo Patrik Wallner.
With a length of 46 minutes and 31 minutes of bonus features the DVD is packed with never-before-seen spots, SD, HD, and Super-8 footage and countless NBD’s. If anything, 10,000 Kilometers is an inspiration for skaters everywhere to leave your comfort zone and experience the lesser-seen (or perhaps I should say lesser-skated) parts of the world. Check out Patrik’s website Visual Traveling to purchase the DVD and find out more about his international skateboarding travels.
- Will Harmon