SCREEN TIME
SKATER BOY ROLLING WITH IT Ryd Cook is one of Cambridge’s up-and-coming filmmakers. Miriam Balanescu meets the man behind the camera A s a small city and filmic hub – boasting one of the longest- running film festivals in the country and oft depicted on- passion lies in performance and always has done,” he states. “As a skateboarder, there’s an element of performance. There are a lot of reasons I love skateboarding, but one of them is that it’s a chance to perform.” He adds: “More skateparks would be a really good thing for film, as strange as that might sound – but I think it’s true.” As well as these three loves, Ryd
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screen – Cambridge has fostered a close- knit community of aspiring filmmakers. Ryd Cook is one of them, having grown up in Bar Hill on the outskirts and realising early on that he loves being both in front of – and behind – the camera. Now, he is preparing to release his first feature film. “As a kid, I’d play with my dad’s video camera,” Ryd recalls.
started his film career as a projectionist. “It’s given me perspective on distribution and exhibition of films, which is a really key part of films
being seen, as well as understanding how they work – the frames, the sound and how to get them seen and heard properly in a
“I loved filming things and being on camera as well. Watching myself back afterwards, it was kind of a magical time-travel thing.”
I’m pivoting towards
THE NIGHT OF THE 12TH
performing
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cinema,” explains Ryd.
Ryd has developed an unusual niche – he is a self-proclaimed ‘acting skateboarder’, having performed on- screen as a skateboarder in films such as Netflix’s Legacy of Lies . The unusual pursuit stemmed from another childhood memory. “In my teens, my brother was able to borrow a camera from Long Road Sixth Form College and we would use it to film each other skateboarding,” he says. For Ryd, filmmaking, acting and skateboarding are all in the same vein. “My
Cambridge has been key for this up- and-coming filmmaker, whose shorts so far have been screened around the world, picking up a host of awards. He currently runs the course ‘Shooting and Editing Your Research Video’ at the University of Cambridge, and has long been involved with the Cambridge Film Festival, even putting together his own programme of fellow local filmmakers. “The Arts Picturehouse in particular is an excellent hub for filmmakers,” Ryd says. “The city is small – which I think is a good thing. Most filmmakers in Cambridge know one another or will cross paths. That’s lovely, because every filmmaker can get in touch, support one another and go to each other’s screenings. You can quite easily make screenings happen. “You’ve got lots of wonderful places in Cambridge just to put on your own film screenings, which is incredible.” Up next, Ryd’s feature film Hard Edges , made with friend and writer-director Carl Peck, is in the rough cut stage, almost ready to be unleashed into the world. There may also be changes on the horizon for Ryd: “I’m pivoting. I’ll always be a filmmaker – I still am a filmmaker. But I’m pivoting my career towards performance.”
ONE FINE MORNING
Mia Hansen-Løve returns with a delicate meditation on romantic entanglements, emotional hardship and parenthood, starring Léa Seydoux. Where to Watch: UK cinemas When: 14 April
TRY THIS TRICK AND SPIN IT Ryd got his start creating skate films, and is now preparing to release his first feature, Hard Edges
28 APRIL 2023 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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