Isaac Gale, filmmaker and musician from Minneapolis, spoke to us about one of his most fascinating projects: a documentary on the struggle for a skate scene in Havana.
Hi Isaac, can you give me a sense of who you are and what you do?
Isaac Gale: I’m a filmmaker and musician from Minneapolis. I’ve made a lot of music videos, some short documentaries and experimental pieces, and I’m in a band called Marijuana Deathsquads.
We were taken with your documentary on skateboarding in Cuba. Can you give us an insight into how that project took off?
Isaac Gale: I think it went like this: Steve Nesser and Tabari Cook hooked up with Miles Jackson and Cuba Skate and set up a trip to Havana to bring equipment to give out and to skate with some kids there. Cuba Skate is a super cool organization that provides access to skateboard equipment that people can’t get there (there are no skate shops). They’re working really hard to support and grow the skate scene in Cuba.
“IF SOMEONE SAYS “HEY, WANNA COME TO CUBA AND SHOOT SKATEBOARDING?”, ALWAYS SAY YES.”
Jake Heinitz from Greenroom Magazine got involved to document the trip for the magazine, and he asked me to come and shoot.
This might be totally made up, but I feel like I was asked to come along only a couple weeks before we left. If someone asks, “Hey, wanna come to Cuba and shoot skateboarding?”, always say “Yes.” That’s my policy.
We really had no idea what to expect when we got down there.
And what did you find?
Isaac Gale: We met up with Miles and this group of skaters (shoutout to Reynaldo, Orly, Gordito and Jimi!) and basically just hung around with them for a week. They found us spots to sleep in their neighborhood and took us all over the city. We spent a few days at that crazy ruin of a military building that they are building up as a skate spot in the movie. There was torrential rains for like 3 days, which made the skating aspect of it hard. The movie is really a distillation of the entire trip, it rained so much that we didn’t leave with very much footage.
“THERE WAS TORRENTIAL RAINS FOR LIKE 3 DAYS, WHICH MADE THE SKATING ASPECT OF IT HARD.”
The movie was 8 minutes, give or take, do you feel you were able to do the scene justice in that time?
Isaac Gale: I hope so! My only plan going in was to just shoot and shoot and find some focus for the film in the edit. I wanted it to be about their experience as Cuban skaters, and also give a feel for the city of Havana itself since it’s not a place many Americans have been able to travel to since the 1960s.
In that time you do so much with the visuals and the audio accompaniment. How much of this was prepared and how much was discovered in post?
Isaac Gale: Well as far as visuals go, I guess I had a look in mind that I was going for, although that all sort of goes out the door when scrambling to cover as much as possible in the moment. I was basically a one person crew, so it’s all very fun and gun and simple. Some of the time I’d just sort of say “Here!” and toss someone else one of the cameras.
Havana was such a musical place. I wanted to create an original score to drive the visuals, but I wanted it to reflect our experience there. These kids were blasting Drake and Future the whole time they skated. So I wanted the sound to be influenced by Cuban rhythms, but also be gritty and textural and noisy like the city was and because that’s just what I like.
“NOT SPEAKING SPANISH WAS A BIT OF A BUMMER.”
I brought in my friend Andrew Broder (who makes beautiful music under the name Fog) and he set up with a turntable and a bunch of fx pedals in my room and played long jams to the raw footage. Then I smushed it all together into the 8 min form you see.
What did you find was the biggest struggle for you while you were out there shooting?
Isaac Gale: Other than dealing with all the rain, I didn’t think there was much of a struggle at all. Not speaking Spanish was a bit of a bummer, I would have liked to be able to communicate on a deeper level with everyone. I also wished that I hadn’t stopped skating when I was like 13. Maybe that was my biggest struggle on this film: watching everyone cruise around while I’m stuck working a camera. The whole shoot and trip was really a pleasure.
Marijuana Deathsquads, video by Isaac Gale
Have you stayed in contact with those skaters? Any developments on their fight for their scene?
Isaac Gale: I haven’t kept in touch other than following the Cuba Skate instagram account (@cubaskate). Just checked right now and looks like they’re back at the Ciudad Libertad spot building up some wild skate-able sculptures.
You said you haven’t skated for a while. Are you going to try to do some more skate-related films?
“GET THE SHOT, ASK PERMISSION LATER.”
Isaac Gale: If the situation is interesting or it seems like there’s a compelling story, I definitely would do more skate related projects. I can’t pretend like I know anything about skating though other than I think it’s a beautiful and crazy sport. I couldn’t tell you the difference between one trick or another. If Steve and Tabari asked me to go on another wild mission with them, I would do it in a heartbeat.
For anybody trying to make a documentary, including us as we’re about to embark on our first project, what would you say?
Isaac Gale: Get the shot, ask permission later. Experiment and don’t worry about mistakes. Good sound is important! Be patient. And, good luck!
Thanks so much, Isaac.
