Dragonslayer

Filmmaker Tristan Patterson spends several months following the seemingly aimless path of a semi-pro skateboarder in this documentary. Josh "Skreech" Sandoval lives in Fullerton, California and earns his living as a skater -- he competes in international events and has racked up a few endorsements, but he lacks the discipline to be a major figure in the sport. Instead, Sandoval prefers to lead a nomadic existence, wandering from neighborhood to neighborhood, looking for the perfect abandoned swimming pool or skate spot, and frequently self-medicating with alcohol and drugs. Sandoval has a girlfriend, Leslie Brown, who is willing to deal with his sometimes mercurial personality, and he has a young son from a previous relationship, Sid Rocket Sandoval, but for the most part Sandoval is a loner who focuses on an endless now rather than consider a troubled past and uncertain future. Dragonslayer focuses less on Sandoval's career in skateboarding and more on his personality, as he negotiates the peaks and valleys of a culture in flux. Dragonslayer received its world premiere at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival.