Virginia Film Festival

Late at night, unbeknownst to many Americans, roller-skating rinks across the country come alive, featuring a vibrant underground culture that blends hip-hop, dance, and skate tricks. For decades, roller rinks have served as incubators for an under-recognized American subculture, and have become battlegrounds of racial politics. As America’s roller rinks are threatened with closures,the skate community mobilizes in a racialized fight to save an endangered cultural tradition. Traveling from L.A. to North Carolina to Chicago and beyond, United Skates documents present-day struggles to prevent the extinction of rink culture alongside the historical precedents that inform them. Discussion with associate producer Saletta Coleman-Pierce, moderated by Meredith Clark (UVA)

Supported by Office for Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights