woo presents Feel Good Films: FREEBORDER SKATE

Welcome to woo's feel good films, a collection of short films from young up and coming filmmakers and directors from around the globe designed to make you feel happy, energised and creatively inspired.

Sojourn is on a self-made mission to help refugee children in Lebanon. She wants to provide them with space. An environment for fun, a place to connect with others, and to skate. It all started in Lexington, Kentucky. When she was seven or eight, Sojourn saw two Black girls at the skatepark, who knew how to skate. “Taking up space, acting like they belonged there”. It was the first and only time she saw that.

Since, Sojourn has gone on to be the author of six children’s books focussed on the feel-good power of making friendships through sports. Her own story is also remarkable. She has been homeless, she has lived in countries across the world, and she is the founder of Free Border Skate.

That’s the focus of this mini-documentary, co-directed by Sojourn and Barcelona-based skater/filmmaker Jana Otte. It’s set in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, 19 miles east of Beirut. Free Border Skate is a female-led, female-centred extreme skate programme aimed at fostering positive spaces for youth living in areas of conflict and civil unrest. The charity encourages children and teenagers to positively express themselves, while working towards managing and overcoming the trauma in their past and present.

“We all need community, and we all need a safe space to just let our body feel itself being alive.” She says at the beginning of this heart-warming, important, and feel good story that is well worth a few minutes of your day.