Skateland

Director: Anthony Burns
Writer: Anthony Burns, Brandon Freeman, Heath Freeman
Cast: Shiloh Fernandez, A.J. Buckley, Ashley Greene, Brett Cullen, Ellen Hollman, Heath Freeman.
Theatrical Release Date: May 14, 2011
Criticwire: B-
On The Web Film Website IMDB Entry

Synopsis: It’s 1983, and Skateland, the roller rink and local hangout of a small town, is becoming a fading memory of an earlier time, when disco and roller-skating were king. The party scene is getting stale, and 19-year-old Ritchie's romantic life is as cloudy as his future. He struggles to make sense of it all, and decisions do not come easily to the carefree young man. When tragedy strikes his friends and family, Ritchie must face the music—and make the biggest decision of his life. Without the benefit of a studio budget or name casting, Anthony Burns and Brandon and Heath Freeman capture the '80s in startling detail. The result: a cinematic scrapbook of a time and place, a visceral visual, and an aural experience that reclaims the decade for those of us lucky enough to have lived through it once. While the atmosphere is time specific, the themes of the joys and pains of growing up are universal. [Synopsis courtesy of Sundance Film Festival]