Chicago Premiere | Cast and Crew in Attendance for a Post-Film Panel Discussion including Chicago skateboard legend Stevie Dread Snyder, moderated by WBEZ Chicago Public Radio criminal justice reporter Patrick Smith

Produced by New York Times Reporter Azam Ahmed

By the end of his teens, Leo Castillo has already endured more tragedy than most: witnessing an older brother killed by police, a younger brother wooed ever-closer to gang affiliation, an impoverished home-life and a father he's never known. Through this tumult, skateboarding has always provided him solace, a literal and figurative vehicle to escape the rampant violence of his southwest Chicago neighborhood. That is until one summer day, when a bullet rips through his calf, causing nerve damage and threatening his ability to ever skate again. Faced with this reality and armed with little more than street-smarts and the support of his best friend Beaver, Leo begins to forge his own unlikely path to adulthood. From helping spearhead the construction of a neighborhood skatepark to teaching his own after-school skateboarding class at the local high school, Leo discovers ways to transform a youthful passion into a productive future. But with each step forward, it seems a past he can’t quite escape keeps trying to drag him and his family back down.   Intimately filmed over several years, SKATE OR DIE is a riveting documentary feature that is finally making its long awaited, hometown, theatrical premiere. After inspiring audiences at film festivals internationally - beginning with its world premiere at the 2021 San Francisco Documentary Festival to, most recently, winning 'Best Feature’ at Wisconsin’s Big Water Film Festival this past March - the film is now returning home for a theatrical screening and celebration 13 years in the making. Cast and crew will be in attendance and there will be a panel discussion afterwards moderated by WBEZ Chicago Public Radio criminal justice reporter Patrick Smith.