Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator 2003

Mark ‘Gator’ Rogowski was a skateboarding legend in the 80s, a rebellious spirit who dominated the backyard ramps and skate parks, eventually turning a hobby into a multi-million-dollar industry. This brilliant documentary, a fascinating companion piece to Dogtown and Z-Boys, charts his meteoric rise and his subsequent tragic descent to life behind bars. Before his 18th birthday he was making $100,000 a year as representative for Vision Street Wear. And like many teenagers thrust into the limelight, he indulged in a lifestyle of drunken binges and supermodel girlfriends. When Gator’s fame began to be eclipsed by a new wave of bold boarders, he made several attempts to reinvent himself, from changing his identity to becoming a born-again Christian. His rollercoaster life ended when he raped and killed a 21-year old woman and was sent away for life. Stoked captures the era with riveting accounts of Gator’s life by the man himself and skater gods like Tony Hawk, Jason Jessee, Steve Caballero and Ed Templeton. — Ant Timpson