JJ Rolfe will attend the screening
Hill Street is the fascinating and hi-octane account of the evolution of skateboarding culture in Dublin from the late 1980s to the present day. JJ Rolfe’s documentary focuses on Clive Rowen, proprietor of skate shop ‘Clive’s of Hill Street’, who helmed the burgeoning scene through the building of primitive ramps at the shop before graduating to a temporary skate park in the Top Hat Ballroom in South Dublin. Clive even managed to convince a Powell Team, including the legendary Tony Hawk, to visit the park for a now historic demo.
His continuing efforts resulted in a leg of the European Skate Championships being held in the Point Depot in 1991. From these early days skaters from Hill Street eventually opened their own full time private skate parks starting with Simons Park on Sir John Rogersons Quay. This troubled park soon closed but not before a visit from the then “Deathbox” Team (now Flip Skateboards) including cult skater Tom Penny. An unmissable chartering of the gradual rise of the skate scene, Hill Street is a gripping watch, rich in local interest. - Colm McAuliffe, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival