United Skates

Roller rinks in America are closing one after another. For decades these rinks were meeting places for Black communities: a culture with its own music, its own way of skating, its own rules. The documentary follows three families and the fight put up against the closures. The reasons for closing are not always economic. Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown directed the film together. The documentary shows, with the paperwork, that some rinks applied separate rules to discourage Black customers: different nights, different skate requirements, different prices. Salt-N-Pepa, Coolio and other musicians describe the influence the rinks had on hip hop. The film won the audience award at Tribeca.