Boris Proust
October 23, 2008 @ 4:00 AM
Boris Proust interview and photos by Benjamin unless marked otherwise
This young French man might have not made a name for himself all over the world yet, but he is leading this new generation coming out of France at the moment…
Quite the busy type, he found the time to discuss where he was coming from, how he found out about skateboarding in the streets of an African capital and why he likes to do things his way. Then, he got back to his studies, filming others for various scene projects, managing the team for Flare, a wheel company he started with friends.
At age 23, Boris has himself many dishes to cook and serve, and believe us, he won’t disappoint on any… get prepared.
And don’t EVER feed him alcohol after midnight!
You’re out of some exams, tell us what you are studying…
Cinema, visual arts, actually. Theory, technique, all of it! You study history of cinema, a bit of practical filming, a bit of everything, in fact. The worst is you have a lot of old films history.
How did you get involved in that?
I started filming with skating, and it went from there. I had a small camera my dad bought five years before, and I started filming with it. I got really into it, so I bought myself a VX1000 and I filmed for the first Mofo vids [a Montpellier based series directed by Luc Angles, NR]. I film some skating and some life style too.
Is it to learn the technical part that you enrolled into this?
No, it’s more the aesthetics side. You can save up things you’ve seen, a bit like memories. Technically, I learned more from watching skate videos. But, since then I’ve built myself a little dolly, for example. You try to learn new things from it.
You’re finishing your last year?
I still have another year, it’s a three-year curriculum. It’s cool, we have about 15 hours a week, so that leaves me time to skate. And when I go for a tour, I tell them I’ll be gone for a week, and they’re cool with it.
Ph: Viollet
How long have you been living in Montpellier, now?
About… six years? Yep.
And before that, you lived in Africa?
Yes, I lived nine years in Africa, but also in Poitou-Charentes [a rather rural part of France, just under Brittany, NR]… In fact, I was born in Africa. I lived there for five years, in Lomé, Togo, then some things happened, and we came back for a bit.
Why Africa?
My dad had a hotel-restaurant there. In fact, he always had in mind to cross the desert and ended up doing it one day, and like it so much he stayed there. [laughter]
How does it feel to move to France from there, at age 5?
I don’t remember. For me it was the same. But, when we moved back there, I ended up being happy to move back to France, in the end. It’s nice over there, but living there, it gets a bit boring. There isn’t much to do.
You started skating there, then?
Yes, I skated over there for a year and a half, or so, with Lionel! [Dominoni, now a Parisian loc also making a name for himself- Ed] There was about five or six skaters, including Lionel…
How did you find out about skateboarding in Togo!?
A friend already skated with a couple others and Lionel was hanging out with them, so he got into it. And then, it was me! But, to get product, it was a mission. When somebody would go back to France, he’d have to bring boards for everybody, because over there you couldn’t find anything of quality.
What did you guys skate?
There was some good spots! Not so many, but we had this crazy plaza with perfect ground and two steps. We sucked so we always went to the same spot. But there must be more than that. I’d like to go back , actually, to see… [laughter] We were skating the big Congress Hall plaza with the local rollerbladers, and that was that! [laughter]
So, how old were you when you moved back to France?
Around 17… I came back with my parents. My dad didn’t want to leave, but my Mum had enough.
Was it a shock?
[laughter] It was mayhem! I got kept back at school for a year. I started skating fully, going out, all that! I like living here better. But, for holidays, I’d go back! It’s crazy, especially when you go into the Savanna, in the countries around!
So, you’ve seen lions?
Yes! We went to Pendjari National Park in Benin, we saw lions, hippopotamus, wild ones!
How did you integrate the Montpellier scene?
There’s this spot, Richter, that’s a bit like Hotel de Ville in Lyon, but a lot suckier [laughter] where everybody meets and there I met Luc, Cédric, Chandelle, Matthieu, everybody and I started skating with them. Soon enough, we were out everyday filming…
That’s when you were jumping on all the rails you could find?
[laughter] Kind of! It’s funny everybody thinks that, but I haven’t skated that many rails, really!
Just the bigger ones in France? [laughter]
No, well, just grinding them! At the moment, I don’t skate that many. Around here, there isn’t that many perfect spots to learn on.
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