Concrete Circus

'Breath-taking', 'eye-opening' and 'heart-stopping' are a number of lazy cliche's I could adopt to describe this far from disappointing watch; all of which would fail to do justice this remarkable documentary, and luckily my propensity for cliches and substance of this programme are in no way aligned.

Concrete Circus examines four of urban sub-culture's most enigmatic pass-times: Parkour, Trail Biking, Flat-Land BMX and Freestyle Skateboarding. By documenting, in a very human way, the craft of five young British pioneers Concrete Circus follows the progress of process as each individual pushes himself to accomplish their second online viral showcase more ground-breaking than before.

'Sport' would be an inadequate definition of exactly what these urban athletes actually do, and that is the shifting nature of these break-through entities. Even skateboarders flinch when you try to pin them to terms like 'extreme', how dated does that sound?! And that's part of the beauty of this documentary. Although each 'sport' has its differences, it's blatantly clear that these individuals are united by their need for personal expression and, refreshingly, unpretentious straightforward fun. If you've ever hit the streets for long periods of time this one will appeal to you, and I don't mean curb-crawling in the way you're thinking..

Unfortunately the entire documentary isn't up on 4OD, why I can't tell you, but keep checking though. Here instead is my favourite of the four short-films produced.

Enjoy.