Watch Skateboarder Sammy Montano's Journey Through the Balkan's Surreal War Memorials

TEMPLE is a conceptual monochrome short film, following skateboarder Sammy Montano on a journey through the Balkans and its fallen monuments. It was essential to transcribe them with respect according to our vision, to spiritualize the expression of their magnificent forms, timeless aesthetics and monumental dimensions. Confronting them with skateboarding allowed us to animate this notion of freedom and exploration. Sammy Montano places himself as a central witness, being both the representation of this quest but also its outcome. It represents the doubt that animates each of us in the face of the unknown and this constantly renewed desire to take step in search of the answers to our deepest beliefs. This film is a personal art project, a pure reverence and tribute to these monuments, better known as « Spomeniks » and their legacy. Learn more about these beautiful structures and the history of the people who built them via the Spomenik Database: http://www.spomenikdatabase.org/ Written and Directed by Pierre David & Douglas Guillot Starring Sammy Montano Produced by Cavalerie Director of Photography Douglas Guillot & Pierre David 16mm Camera operator Yentl Touboul Music Composer & Sound Designer Paul Sabin Voice Over by Douglas Rand @ Studio 31dB Sound Mixing by Francesco Porcellana @ Studio 31dB Art Direction Michal Sukup Technical Support by Vantage Paris Thanks to Josh Barrow • Anton Myhrvold • Stéphane Quester • Marina Jego • Arsene Lefrancois • Kodak Film London Shot on RED EPIC W w/ Hawk Anamorphic V-lite Vintage '74 x1.3 • Bolex Rex5 Super 16 MUSIC : All rights included @Paul Sabin @Flower duet "Audio Network Limited" @ritual production "Drug Cult" https://ritualproductions.bandcamp.com/album/drug-cult @@31Db Studio - Nilla Pizzi Buy it here : https://itunes.apple.com/it/album/nilla-pizzi-grazie-dei-fiori/426799138

American Skateboarder Sammy Montano rips through the Balkans and it’s fallen monuments in this conceptual monochromatic short film, TEMPLE. Filmed by French directing duo Pierre David and Douglas Guillot, this personal art project confronts the magnificent structures scattered across the mountainous landscape with the freedom and exploration of skateboarding. By documenting Montano’s excursion into the unknown, this visual acts as a celebration of the history and people who built these remarkable concrete monuments, better known as spomeniks. Built to commemorate the deeds of anti-fasicts partisans and revolutionaries of Yugoslavia, these striking sites have been abandoned as visitors have dwindled since the collapse of the state. Watch Montano breathe life back into these relics just below. 

Words: Paola de Oliveira
Photography: Pierre David