MEDIA RELEASE by Kickstart Arts
The soon to be Olympic sport of skateboarding has always been a male dominated sport, that is, until just recently. Girls are steadily taking over the urban skate parks of southern Tasmania, and a brand new film that is part of Kickstart Arts’ Counting up to Happiness Project, which screens at The Peacock Theatre from Thursday 21 July to Sunday 24 July tells the story of Australia’s biggest female skateboarding group, ‘She Shreds’.
Local skateboarding legend Jimmy McMacken, who appears in the film, remarked “I’ve never seen anything like it, in all my 30 years of involvement in skateboarding, it’s remarkable, to see so many girls getting so good so quickly, She Shreds has been really positive for the sport, they’ve opened up the parks so a lot more families are coming now.”
Never before has there been so many girls dropping half pipes and grinding the rails. They are starting as young as four years old and the older ones are really giving the boys a run for their money.
This is all due to the dedication of Jared Andrew, an ex-army man, who with his partner Alison and his two daughters, Bridget and Chloe, founded ‘She Shreds’ a new community of all girl skaters.
“My girls wanted some friends to skate with, so we invited a few girls, and it just grew from there, said Andrew, “I break the skills down so the younger ones can quickly grasp what’s required. The girls who’ve been skating the longest are now competing well in skate competitions, both here and interstate..”
Jared teaches girls from as young as four years old about the basics of skating and supports them to develop their skills to a higher level. A whole new community of skaters has sprung up with many families now getting involved. For the girls, being part of a close knit community, learning skills and feeling the freedom of skating the ramps are a few of the things that mean happiness for them.
Jared tells us that the skateboarding has been transformational for many of the girls, helping them become more focused at school and to overcome problems such as coping with bullying.
“I tell them that every time they overcome their fear of dropping a fourteen foot ramp, they are effectively beating their bullies,” Andrew said, “there’s a feeling that if they can do something like that, they can do anything in their lives.”
Filmmaker and community cultural development artist Richard Bladel from Kickstart Arts has been working with the group to make a short film about this amazing Hobart based group.
She Shreds is just one of a number of films that explores the true nature of happiness as part of Kickstart Arts’ The Happiness Project.
Some of Tasmania’s top film makers have worked with Kickstart Arts since 2010. They have made a suite of over 63 films with community members from the far North to the far South of the state.
The films tell local stories with warmth, humour and insight and are brimming with optimism, giving a light of hope at a time when we could all use cheering up.
COUNTING UP TO HAPPINESS PROJECT
Short Tasmanian films about Happiness 2010 – 2016
TICKETS:Full Price $18 / Concession $10 /Family Price (2 Adults + up to 2 kids)$40 (inclusive of fees & charges)
Tickets available ONLINE
SCREENING TIMES:
Thursday 21 July 2016 @ 7:30pm
Friday 22 July 2016 @ 1:00pm – Half Price Matinee – ALL TICKETS $10
Friday 22 July 2016 @ 3:00pm
Friday 22 July 2016 @ 8:00pm
Saturday 23 July 2016 @ 2:00pm – Half Price Matinee – ALL TICKETS $10
Saturday 23 July 2016 @ 6:00pm
Saturday 23 July 2016 @ 8:00pm
Sunday 24 July 2016 @ 11:00am
Sunday 24 July 2016 @4:30pm
PUBLIC FORUM: IS HAPPINESS A MATTER OF SURVIVAL?
This multidisciplinary forum investigates happiness as a matter of individual, community and national importance. It brings together speakers from education, public policy, psychology, philosophy, the arts and community development to investigate what could lead to positive change to what we value as a society, and how we might find collective happiness.
In Australia, it’s estimated that 45 per cent of people will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime, around 1 million Australian adults have depression, and over 2 million have anxiety, between 2010 & 2014, the average number of suicide deaths per year in Australia was 2,577.
CHAIRPERSON:
Dave Noonan – Radio presenter on Heart 1073
SPEAKERS:
Dr Sonam Thakchoe – Senior Philosophy Lecturer at UTAS
Dr Bruno Cayoun – Clinical Psychologist & principal developer of MiCBT
Deborah Mills – Public Policy Consultant Art and Wellbeing
Dr Nicholas Hookway – Lecturer in Sociology, School of Social Sciences, UTAS
Jami Bladel – Artistic Director and CEO of Kickstart Arts Stacey Clancy
Lucy Haigh – Educators from the Institute of Positive Education, Geelong Grammar School, Melbourne
Each speaker will have 10 minutes to address the topic, and there will be a Q and A session of at least 30 minutes.
TICKETS: Full Price $10 / Concession $5
Tickets available ONLINE
EVENT:
Sunday 24 July 2016 @ 2:00pm
