pride
A documentary for Vans about Yann Horowitz, South African skateboarder and queer icon.
CLIENT
Vans
ROLE
Producer
DATE
2020
“After Yann Horowitz kissed his boyfriend in celebration of winning the Vans Park Series in 2018, Yann’s fearless yet fabulous style became the talk of skateboarding”
Photography by Sam McGuire
Project Description
Working in line with SKATEISM, myself, Sam McGuire and Robin Pallier created a short documentary film for Vans about Yann Horowitz, professional skateboarder and queer icon in skateboarding who rides for the company
After Yann Horowitz kissed his boyfriend in celebration of winning the Vans Park Series African Continental Championships in 2018, Yann’s fearless yet fabulous style became the talk of skateboarding. Yann realized his skating and sexual identity were becoming intertwined, and he had to ask himself, “Do I really want to be the ‘gay skateboarder’?”
In the past five years, questions of sexuality and identity in our culture have come into the spotlight, and individuals like Yann have faced the complicated balancing act of being both an inspiration, and still holding on to who they are. In this short Coming Out Day documentary Skateism and Vans followed Yann back to his roots in South Africa, to find out more about where he came from and where he’s headed.