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Made In Queens ™/ Text / The Cut / Photography / From Made In Queens 13th August 2008 Each year the best talent in film making get together at the annual Britdoc festival to showcase their wares. With seminars from Channel 4, Google Current and a whole host of new shorts screened it’s not to be missed for any young aspsiring documentary maker. Out of the many shorts we saw, one in particular stood out. ‘Made in Queens’ introduces us to a group of young people and their inventive garage past time; making ‘Boom Box Bikes’. Building these contraptions may be common practise back in Trinidad and Tobago, where many of the kids who started the Queens phenomenum originate from. However, the bikes are attracting a lot of attention in NY, so much so that Film Makers Joe Stevens and Nicholas Randall to make their 15 minute short Not only is the film beautifully shot, here at The Cut we feel it is a great example of filmakers working to celebrate youth innovation. We tracked them down at BritDoc to find out what inspired them to make the short. How did you find out about the Bikes? Cause they wake us up just about every freakin morning. Okay that’s not entirely true. We are always on the lookout for insane/bizarre/ inspiring forms of self-expression. What these young people are doing is so original and cool we thought they deserved tobe celebrated. As filmmakers we’ve always strictly adhered to the policy that anybody who builds a 5,000 watt homemade stereo system onto a rusty old Mongoose and actually rides it around town will get a film made about them. Thankfully, these individuals stepped up. Did you do anything equivalent to this when you were a teenager? Not exactly. I spent huge amounts of time playing a game I invented with my brother which is essentially one-on-one form of full-contact street hockey played while on skateboard at all times. We dreamed of one day going pro but what wound up happening was that unfortunatelythe sport never really took off. Today, very few people have actually heard of it outside of our Mom. How do other people in the local community respond to the bikes, and the film project? Most everybody is cool with it. Some folks are even super-supportive. The crew never stays in any one place for too long so the noise isn’t as much of an issue as one might think. When we were shooting you could definitely sense the locals’ vicarious pride in what the crew has created. When the neighborhood is covered in the media, it often as a result of something violent or sad. But this is different. It’ssomething positive and it’s completely home-grown. Can films like this change negative perceptions about young people as well as celebrate grassroots creativity? Teenagers lives are ridiculously structured now. Way more than adults actually. It seems like it’s gotten harder and harder for young people to have real fun. Not lame fun where you’re sitting on facebook im’ing emoticons or some stupid crap like that. But real fun where you’re doing something that’s genuinely imaginative and challenging in a way which transcends the extra-curricular activities section of a college application. There’s an authenticity to what they’re doing in that it’s not a calculated means to anything. These kids are a great example of that old phrase, “make it happen.” Lets hope these bike crew can join us for Notting Hill Carnival 2009! www.madeinqueensfilm.com		Issue Two Aug 2008 Reggie Yates Interview Road To 2012 : Olympics Special Road To Carnival Fashion Freedom At A Price Red Hot Interview Nash Money Sneakers Micachu Interview Natty Interview Life In The Marine Corps Parents Meet The Teenagers Young Londoners Meet The Cast Of Adulthood Cyko Logic Interview Fred Butler : Prop Stylist Interview Immortal Technique Review Made In Queens Victor Timofeev : Artist Interview Ricky Powell Interview Twizzle Interview Flywear Feature Top Girl Film Feature Queen Of Nations Not Without My Sister Sky's The Limit Career's Advice Issue One March 2008 Bashy Interview The Cool Kids Lady Lykes Grimes New School Rowdy Superstar Interview The Sound Of Reason Slash Interview Hoxton Vs Hampstead Fashion Young Designers Lucinda Chua Interview Will Kay Interview The Brothers Size Chris Lambert Duane Henry Drug Trafficking Feature Does My Bum Look Big in This Life After Prison Whats Upsetting Our Children MP Julia Goldsworthy Autechre Live In London Hardcore Is More Than Music Media Box Paddington Development Trust The Cut On Myspace