From Skateboarding in a Warzone to Center Stage at the Oscars with Carol Dysinger

By The Outdoor Journal LLC

American Director Carol Dysinger wins an Oscar for revealing the resilience of young Afghan girls with an unlikely second chance at an education. With an all-female crew of three Western women and two Afghan women, Carol gained unprecedented access into the lives of the young girls of Skateistan. She won the Academy Award in the Best Documentary (Short Subject) category for Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl) at the 92nd annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles on February 9.Afterward, Carol was whisked away to the after-parties to hobnob with the likes of Mark Ruffalo and Keanu Reeves. Carol has wrestled with one of the central themes of Learning to Skate in a Warzone - limited access to women - throughout her entire career. The film industry has historically excluded women from the director's chair and, conspicuously, the nominees for best director of a feature film were all men. Over her lifetime, Carol has maintained a passionate interest in examining the relationship between civil rights abolition and the women’s movement. In fact, she even carries a copy of the Constitution in her purse at all times. Over the past 15 years, she has filmed in Afghanistan. Her previous work, Camp Victory Afghanistan is well-known for its portrayal of US National Guard troops struggling through cultural barriers to train the local Afghan national army. In deciding to take on this Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone project, Carol recognized and appreciated the systemic problems that Skateistan was willing to take on - access to education and illiteracy.As a teacher herself, at NYU’s Tisch Graduate Film program, Carol innately connected with the educators and students at Skateistan. In this episode of The Outdoor Journal Podcast, Carol discusses what it was like to embed herself within a culture with antiquated traditions about women's rights, how she instantly connected with the young girls on Skateistan, and her experiences both on stage and behind the scenes at the Oscars.For more stories like this, visit The Outdoor Journal.