Tag: sami harithi

PUNK! That is what Mobina and Melika are. why, you might ask? Well, first of all, they are DIY people. Coming to Germany together with their whole family and finding a new way in a country, a society & a city that bares at best small resemblances to where you were born. That said, they took on that challenge and are well on their way of knocking it out of the park. All while staying humble but not shy and they are certainly not shy! HIGH ENERGY, that is what they bring, jokes for days, a lust for life that in all honesty, we haven’t seen that often. Mobina (18) is a wild child, dancing at parties, skating with the pros, finding out about all that Berlin has to offer while still maintaining a serious attitude to her education. Melika (15) is a bit more relaxed, strong-willed on the board, not afraid to take a slam or even go back to get what she feels she can land. All while putting great value into people treating each other with kindness and respect, she doesn’t suffer fools lightly either and will let her opinion be known. At the same time, they both like to pull pranks on one another, pretend like they hate each other saying things like “You make me want to vomit!”. But in all honesty, it is a game and they are playing the game well and have fun doing it together!

Text by Roland Hoogwater / Photography by Tina Willim.

We first met Melika Nazari one and a half years ago at Heidelberger skatepark in Berlin, a random skatepark to be at, if you are a young upstarting skater in the German capital. The transitions are steep, the ledge and the flatbar are pretty high & the flat ground is not the most fun but Melika found her way.

We all skated for about an hour after which our crew sat down, immediately Melika introduced herself and started asking questions:

“Who are you? What are your names? Where are you from? Do you skate here often? What are your IG handles?”

Melika Nazari.

Needless to say, we where a bit overwhelmed but at the same time she was nice to us and obviously so interested in skateboarding that we obliged her and she made a real impression on us. It was only when we fired some questions back at her that we found out she wasn’t German, she was a refugee from Afghanistan. That fact almost seemed unreal to us because she was fluent in German (no real accent) and dressed like a skater no shyness either, it just showed us not to judge a book by its cover.

“Drag & Drop” only works on computers girls!

I met Melika a couple more times and each time she showed a lot of improvement, she had found a new home at the better-suited skatepark DOG SHIT SPOT. And that is where they really became a part of the Berlin skate scene. People have opened their arms and welcomed them in, helping them with boards, shoes and all the little things so that they could continue to skate.

Fast forward to November the 10th, at the Nike SB Shelter in Berlin to be exact. That Sunday we first saw the girls in their natural form… together. It was at the Skate For More Session that was part of the then-new Just Do It Campaign of which both sisters were a big part. That day hosted best tricks, a race, a potential to vote for a new Bowl section but most of all they stood out by co-hosting the workshops, investing their energy into giving back to new often young skaters from all walks of life.

Question:

How does a person that flees Afghanistan via Iran ending up in Berlin find skateboarding? Drop-In that is how! DROP-IN is a foundation that hosts projects for Refugees and as the founder Joest Schmidt explained uses sporting activities to engage in education and integration of new-comers into German society. Mobina & Melika entered a summer program that helped teach German, showed them the city and introduced them to their first love Skateboarding.

They were hooked from day one, we offered other sporting activities but they were only interested in one thing. If we would go swimming they would ask if they could go skate instead.

Joest Schmidt, Drop-In Founder.

Joest being a skateboarder himself obviously obliged them and so their journey began. Their German language skills developed at least as fast as their skating did, that is in part due to the fact that Drop-In’s courses involve mixing local Berlin kids in with the Refugees creating the necessity for both to find a way to get out of their comfort zone and talk to each other.

Mobina enjoying her first 15-minutes of fame.

“That and the fact that we where hanging out at the skatepark a lot, really helped us learn German fast! We had to try and talk on a daily basis we couldn’t stay in our own language bubble.” Melika tells us.

Now within three years, they don’t only still attend skate classes, they are able to host them and teach new people, in a sense closing the circle that Drop-In created.

Imagine this, they came to Germany 3 years ago, found a new hobby, sport, art… whatever you want to call skateboarding and within 2 years they were not only fluent in German but also good enough at skating that they could stand in front of a group of native speakers and teach them their new hobby, their new lifestyle.

Joest Schmidt, Drop-In Founder.
Mobina & Melika together with their girlfriends

As I said in the intro they are PUNK, they might not dress like PUNKS did in the ’80s but they are “Do It Yourself” people taking their own route and not following the mold that other refugees, skaters or teens have followed in the past. For a lot of girls with Muslim backgrounds, a lot of activity can be forbidden depending on the strictness of their religion. Riding a bike is one of those activities but skateboarding is so new that it is not Haram so it can be practiced freely. And even though skateboarding is an activity that you perform alone it is something that you do together with your friends, culture, heritage, age, ethnicity all fall to the side the only thing that counts is “are you a real skater?” and if you can fulfill that requirement you can hang.

So to close it off, this is, of course, a story about two young women who through hard work and having an open attitude managed to find their way into Berlin. But more than that it is a story about skateboarding, social work and that special mix that can help people from all walks of life.

Mobina called this one the Pineapple.

So, a little earlier this month Nike hosted a day where the Skatehalle Berlin was opened up to the public and as you have come to expect from us we were there to show you, the public, what went down. A video recap is something we do quite often but because this was a special event we chose a different route, we chose you, the skaters, to document the event for us.

What was so special about this event? Well, it was part of the new “Just Do It” campaign which focusses on getting skaters skating, skaters talking and mainly skaters just being active, together.

Besides that, two local skaters are part of the campaign, Melika & Mobina Nazari, two girls who came to Berlin from Afganistan and are now a strong fixture in the Berlin skate scene. They became a part of skating through workshops and now they took the role of giving them, a proud moment.

Furthermore, we also gathered to session the Bowl in the Skatehalle. A bowl that has been there for the longest and is worth celebrating but is also worth updating and with people like Fernando Bramsmark, Farid Ulrich & David Bachl it is easy to see why an update is needed to raise the stakes.

So in the end, a temporary extension was brought in and Nando rang the bell which signaled a new day for the transition part of the Skatehalle. Now press play and see people race, fly, skate, DJ but most of all enjoy themselves.

The formula for the typical skate event in Berlin usually consist of a video premiere or a contest and a few free drinks. Vans took it to another level this past weekend with a House of Vans at E-Werk in the very center of Berlin. Vans opened the doors to a three day Pop-Up House of Vans. Similarly to the permanent House of Vans London or the House of Vans Chicago, it was all about skateboarding, art, music and that very special Berlin culture.

Text: Moritz Alte 

Pictures: Sara Parson-Texas

The day started off with an open session for the Berlin locals. Vans Invited 3 Crews, including Radio Skateboards, Alltimers, and Yardsale to codesign the skate course. Rumors surfaced that the Alltimers obstacle was designed in Microsoft-Paint. After a few beers and burritos, the first night of concerts and partying with acts like Leoniden and Schmutzki was on.

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Amy Ram and Helena Long

Day two began with Vans hooking up over 30 girls and boys, with complete boards and a full morning of practice and session, in preparation for a girls only cash for tricks in the park. The ones that wanted to try out for the first time got help by Vans female skate ambassadors. 

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Shani Bru

Lizzie Armanto
Lizzie Armanto putting on checkered Grip

The second day continued right next to the skate course, with various pop-up stores on the so-called “Street Market”, up-cycling, self-improvement and on how to use Instagram to your advantage workshops. During the whole event and especially after the indoor park got closed people just went outside to sit in the sun and enjoy a drink.

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Amy Ram and Alex Forbes

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That night, pretty much everyone was down to get back inside and party to music by Octavian, Drunken Masters, DJ Craft, J Rick and more until…

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Kyra, Basti, and Ali after midnight!

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Joseph Biais and Samuel Partaix

The morning of day three, people just started arriving at the House of Vans and the ones that we’re already there seemed pretty hungover. A few of them even decided to get tattooed by local artist Max Ludwig.

At 8 pm the final chapter and my personal highlight, the Cash for Tricks event went down.

Everyone ripped and tried to get a slice of the 3000 € prize money. The whole Vans Europe team ripped and especially Axel Cruysberghs took the park apart.

 

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Axel Cruysberghs – Back Lip Shove It on the Yardsale obstacle

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Sami Harithi – “Let me get this bread!”

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In the end, it was Robin Bolian from France, who destroyed the Radio Skateboards Wall and came out as MVP! 

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Thank you to Vans Skateboarding for hosting us and everyone else at House of Vans. On to the next one Cheers!

Let’s keep it as short as the name – A new one by Dan Schulz feat.: Oliver Weismantel, Sascha Scharf, Banden B, Franz Zechlin, Farid Ulrich, Sami Harithi, Dustin Bialas, Patrick Rogalski, Sascha Daley, Arthur Kiviliov, Kanya Spani, Kerem Elver, Panos Loupis, Daniel Ledermann, Lukas Bigun, Marco Kada & Tabo Löchelt.

We are proud to host the probably last skate event for summer 2017. The Benchmark Contest takes their format to Berlin for the very first time and here is all the information you need:

“For its tenth year, the Nozbone Benchmark Contest presented by Nike Skateboarding goes to Berlin on September 16th to meet Civilist before heading back to Paris on the 24th.

Two stages for this international edition which rules remain the same since 2008: doing a line of tricks on benches and the different obstacles built specially for the event, inspired by the artistic style born in the early days of the 20th century in Berlin: the Bauhaus.

Winner of the Berlin contest at ‘Spot der Visionäre’ will share a total prize purse of € 1.500 and will be flown out the OG Paris event.”

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Marca Barbier, Hugo Corbin, Giorgi Armani, Sami Harithi & Farid Ulrich are all meeting at the intersection, where it seems that Paris abruptly becomes Berlin.

For its tenth year, the Nozbone Skateshop Benchmark Contest presented by Nike Skateboarding goes to Berlin on September 16th to meet Civilist before heading back to Paris on the 24th. We are glad to invite you all!

Filmed by Peter Buikema & Augustin Giovannoni.

In honor of Dennis Busenitz, the brand with the three stripes threw a little get together to commemorate their 10-year long partnership. We flew out to München and found some time to talk to Dennis about how he ended up on the adidas, his snazzy colorways, his new shoe, growing up in Germany and Sami Harithi’s influence and more.

The colder days are just around the corner in Northern Europe, and thus, the same applies to Berlin. So shortly before we are switching our clocks to daylight saving time, Nike SB, in wise foresight, called together their Europe team to have a last session at Project DSS.

Featuring Hugo Boserup, Casper Brooker, David Jakinda, Jacopo Carozzi, Julia Brückler, Joscha Aicher, Hyun Kummer, Farid Ulrich, Sami Harithi, Justin Sommer, Giorgi Balkhamishvili and Jan Kliewer.

Photos by Dennis Scholz & Leo Preisinger

Sami Harithi is one of the very few skateboarders from Germany that have made a lasting impact on an international level – we already told you last week. In the game since the early 90ies, Sami has seen a lot trends come and go, good times and crisis. The most important fact about this humble person is, that Sami is still around, skating every spot that passes his way – after all those years, his passion for skateboarding burns as hot as ever, he even filmed a new part in Berlins Shelter. See Sami amongst his friends Farid Ulrich, Lennie Burmeister, Denny Pham and Michi Mackrodt. Style is forever!

Filmed & edited by Mark Nickels

Over the years, Sami Harithi‘s name has come up in conversations multiple times – even before I moved to Germany I had heard about him. But I didn’t completely understand what that name meant, aside from legendary Powell video parts and stories people told about his skating. I was reintroduced to Sami’s skating through the “Propeller Island” video, where one trick especially sparked an interest: a frontside 360 ollie in a bank. The run-up was extremely short – it only allowed for one push – and I had an authentic WOW moment when he landed. Since then I’ve shook his hand, watched him skate, socialized with him and took his children to skate events. In all those situations he seemed so comfortable, both in the limelight and behind the scenes. A true natural, I knew he had a long run in skating but I had to dig in the PLACE archives to be able to grasp the full extent of what, where, and how Sami has made his way through skateboarding. And since life focuses on the here and now, I wanted to supplement his upcoming Spot On video part with these 10 facts that I found when I was roaming around the archives…

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Photo by: Phil Boyd

1. Sami started skateboarding in 1988.

2. One year later, he was sponsored by Powell-Peralta Skateboards.

3. He had a full part in Powell’s “Celebrity Tropical Fish” video from 1991. This part features tricks that are still inspiring today, e.g. an impossible lipslide body varial out!

4. In 1992 he won the European Championships in Münster, Germany.

5. That same year, Tony Hawk asked Sami to join his new company Birdhouse Projects; now known as Birdhouse skateboards. He filmed a part for their “Untitled” video which ends with him backside flipping the famous Brooklyn banks barrier.

6. In 1993 he went on his first trip to the United States of America to skate with Tony Hawk and Andrew Reynolds.

7. The following year, at 17 years of age, Sami was asked by Jeremy Fox and Geoff Rowley to join the newly-formed Flip Skateboards company. So Sami went to the States for the second time to pursue the skateboard dream. The footage of this time ended up in his “Cities” part. His ender at the Baustelle was a NBD at that time.

8. In 2002, Sami became a father for the first time, so skateboarding moved to the back as he focused on his family.

9. Nowadays you can find Sami skating at contests, events, or just on the street, often with his kids by his side.

10. Although Sami changed over time – as we all do – his unique style on a skateboard has remained unchanged. He has seen trends come and go and is now experiencing a second youth as a seasoned veteran.

by Roland Hoogwater

Sami Harithi, Roland Hirsch, Steve Forstner, Dallas Rockvam, Jan Kliewer, Sylvain Tognelli, Manuel Bogner, Nino Ullmann, Danny Goodman, Greg Cuadrado, Harrisson Hafner, Nahuel Kirchhof, Daniel Haber, Juro Lehmann, Lars Noll, Hannes Schilling and Nils Brauer in Jonathan Peter’s “Propeller Island” friends section:

Let’s call it a day! Go Skateboarding Day 2015 in Berlin was a blast. The crowd met at Civilist store in Mitte to get their goodie bags while Nike SB donated money towards a new local Skate-Spot-Project for every kilometer that was pushed on a skateboard through the streets. The route took us to the “Bänke”, the famous street spot at Warschauerstr. where another issue of Battle At The Bänke was about to go down.

This 5th issue of BATB went to the history books as Alex Mizurov and Denny Pham did so many lines, they could have filmed a whole Bänke-part on one day. It was just stunning! Also the homies like Louis Taubert, Patrick Rogalski, Sylvain Tognelli (and many more) did their best to show amazing skateboarding at a fully crowded spot. Thanks to everyone who came along to join this epic Go Skateboarding Day!

Here’s our photo recap, shot by Burny.

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Civilists

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Kids loving goodies.

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Sebi MC

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Sylvain did one of the best lines of the day. Unfortunately he disappeared during the final.

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Always a pleasure to watch Sami Harithi skating.

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To give you an idea of this still image – Louis` fs bluntlside was fast as hell.

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Joscha, Mario & Farid

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Probably Denny couldn’t believe how many lines he filmed in one day.

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Patrick was on point, flippin’ into fs crooks.

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Bänke-legend Jan Kliewer hanging with Topdog Danny Sommerfeld.

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Check!

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Alex, Michi, Vladik and Patrik checking the news.

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Michel Funky, Andre and friend.

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Alex Mizurov filmed 13 lines – just in the final!

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Justin, Denny, Colin, Sami

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Best Trick winner Louis going for the long way.

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Kerem Elver likes this a lot.

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Free stuff!

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In total 3850 Euro got donated for the realization of the new skatepark project. Cheers Bo!

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Happy winners with cash – Denny got 2nd, Alex 1st and Louis 3rd, he also won the Best Trick.

Watch out for the final video dropping this week!

Hin und wieder überkommt einen die Lust an ein parkenden Auto zu springen, weil dieses eine sehr einladene Form zeigt und mancher Kotflügel ja gerade dazu einläd gegrindet zu werden. Bei den meisten Leuten bleibt es jedoch bei der Phantasie und das ist auch gut so – ein Auto ist mitunter ja auch nicht ganz billig. Wäre aber zumindest in der Theorie machbar, während es den meistens von uns an Pop mangelt, das Auto per Ollie zu überqueren. Es gibt allerdings Leute, die das können – ein Best Of:


Brandon Westgate – Welcome To The Familiy:
Nach Gerüchten um einen Wechsel zu Toy Machine, fand Brandon vor kurzem bei Element Skateboards ein neues Zuhause. Zur Feier des neuen Arbeitgebers springt Mister Powerhouse über einen unbekannten VW Golf und man könnte fast meinen, dass ihm der PKW nicht einmal wirklich aufgefallen ist. So easy!


John Fitzgerald – Thunder Trucks Clip:
Neu im Game und schon so frech: HOCKEYs John Fitzgerald mit einem saftigen Kickflip über einen abgewrackten Kombi.


Brandon Biebel – “Ollie over car”:
Auch wenn dieses Video ein Fake ist und man solche “Special-Effects” mittlerweile mit jedem iPhone selber nachstellen kann… Biebs war ziemlich früh dran mit diesem Gag, den damals nicht jeder verstehen wollten.


Jeremy Wray – One Step Beyond:
Ein absoluter Klassiker. Jeremy Wray ist Pionier, wenn es um extrem weite Gaps geht. Wobei wir bei diesem Clip eher von extrem teuer sprechen können: Mister Wray lässt sich von seinem Bruder mit dem Roller anziehen, um über einen brandneuen Porsche zu springen. Wer kann, der macht.


Kerry Getz – DVS Skate More:
Kerry Getz darf natürlich nicht fehlen, denn Kerry ist bekannt für extravagante Manöver, latente Protzigkeit und ein volles Konto. Der Porsche, den er in seinem Skate More Part überfliegt gehört ihm – klar…


Sami Harithi – Cities:
Wer auch sonst? Wenn einer über Autos springen kann, dann ist es wohl Sami Harithi in sehr jungen Jahren. Na, David Luther – den Wagen kennst du doch? Ein absoluter Klassiker.


Erik “Chachi” Martinez – All City Showdown: New York:
Mister “Best-Ollie” Erik Martinez hat mit diesem Ollie während der Contest Serie “All City Showdown” von den Kollegen vom Thrasher Magazine, den Award für den besten Ollie bekommen. Von daher darf er hier natürlich auch nicht fehlen.


Tony Hawk – “Jumps Moving MINI Hardtop”:
Der Birdman persönlich springt über einen fahrenden Mini. Klare Marketingaktion, trotzdem irre und somit ein Fall für Tony Hawk.

Nicht alles was Jonathan Peters filmen konnte hat es am Ende auch auf die DVD geschafft. Jo hat sich nun mit der übergebliebenen Footage befasst und einen Leftover Clip geschnitten mit Valeri Rosomako, Tjark Thielker, Nahuel Kirchhoff, Sami Harithi, Hannes Schilling, Simo Mäkelä, Malte Spitz, Nils Brauer, Daniel Pannemann. Wer sich die DVD + Booklet bestellen möchte, der schaut HIER.

Dan Schulz hat sich durch die Untiefen seiner Festplatten gewühlt und noch ein paar ungesehene Tricks aus Berlin gefunden, die er in einer kurzen Montage verwertet hat. Mit dabei sind: Patrick Rogalski, Reik Manig, Wilko Grüning, Marlon Schollmeier, Pascal Reif, Michel Funke, Farid Ulrich, Hirschi, Flex O Connor, Sami Harithi und Justin Sommer.

Montag ist Local Tag im Berliner Shelter: Privatsessions mit dem Nike SB Team, Freunden und Besuchern aus ganz Europa: Hier kommt die zweite “Mondays” Montage aus der Haupstadt. Dieses Mal geben sich unter anderem Simo Mäkelä, Sami Harithi, Sylvain Tognelli, Daniel Ledermann und Julien Dykmans die Ehre.

Radio Skateboards neustes Teammitglied hört auf den durchaus einfachen Namen Justin Sommer, und so easy wie sein Name klingt sieht es auch aus wenn er Skateboard fährt. Unterstützt wird er von unter anderem: Colin McLean, Conrad Bauer, Lennie, Valle und the one and only Sami Harithi.