1 Way Up: The Story of Peckham BMX

Amy Mathieson's documentary captures the efforts of two British racers to make their mark at the BMX World Championships. Fourteen-year-old Quillan and 17-year-old Tre both hail from Peckham, a particularly rough part of London. Ck Flash, a former freestyle rider who transitioned to radio and television work, serves as their coach. Flash oversees 50 riders, and believes that Quillan and Tre have what it takes to become Olympic champions. At their first qualifying race, Tre advances to the next event, while Quillan suffers an injury, but he soon returns. Unfortunately, Quillan experiences another setback when he fails to qualify at a California competition. For Tre, additional motivation comes from his older brother, Daniel, who preceded Tre in training at the National Cycling Center in Manchester, but got caught up in the city's party scene, and came back with a girlfriend and a baby. Although Daniel plans to come back, he's lost a lot of momentum. By the end of the film, one of the young men has become world champion, which is as much of a win for Peckham as it is for him. Mathieson has tweaked her footage in order to reproduce the saturated look of home movies and Polaroid photographs (it's also possible that she shot some of it in 16mm). Unfortunately, while Flash makes for a fine host, more commentary from Quillan and Tre would have been better, since he often speaks for them. And this is also true for Daniel, whose best BMX days may be behind him, but he proves to be a natural on camera. A strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)