For those who don’t know you yet, who is Bruno Aleixo inside and outside of skateboarding?

I consider myself a patient person and this is evident both on and off the skateboard. I don’t get upset with touches that I miss over and over again and I relate well to people, even those who don’t deserve me to be so patient sometimes. I’m a person who values ​​time and freedom a lot and who loves being with people, having barbecues with guacamole and Mexican music behind my house or going to the garden to just chill or read.

What made you decide to start filming this scene?

I decided to simply mark in some way what had left its mark on me in the best sense of the word in terms of interpersonal relationships and growth. It was the place where I met the people who today make a huge difference in being in my life in a positive way and where I failed the most, using this to my advantage to be more patient and aware. I then decided to buy a handycam and start calling these people to record us, and it started to develop.

Were you really happy with the result or were there things you would have preferred to have done differently?

I was really pleased, although I feel that the editing part and the like were not given enough emphasis. I edited everything on my phone in iMovie, a bit hastily, when I could have invested a little in learning other forms of editing better, but the final result conveyed what I wanted it to convey, as someone told me in feedback, Barbezieux is a “hymn to life”.

You said the project didn’t turn out as you had planned — what went wrong?

It was the music part, I had planned to do all the audio part with a friend of mine at the time who is a composer I admire and we were doing it in a way that would really go hand in hand with the editing but due to some personal issues that kept us apart a little we decided not to do it together and I ended up putting some songs that in my opinion made sense to be there.

Was it difficult to keep everyone motivated to film or was it all just impulse?

It was hard to get going, I admit, but when things started to appear, people became more motivated and started thinking about scenes to show in different spots. We talked about this a lot in the group and I shared ideas of what I wanted to do and where, and people always ended up aligning more and more.

Have you ever thought, “Forget it, this will never come out”?

It was never something that crossed my mind, sometimes I thought it would take longer than I had in mind, but even so, there was never any rush. There were times when I thought it was good and that I could release it as it was, but at the same time, people were excited and so was I, so we just let it go and kept filming. It took about 2 and a half years from the moment I decided to start doing it.

What role did the São João da Madeira skatepark play in your growth, not only as a skateboarder, but as a person?

It’s an interesting question. When I started going there, the atmosphere was tense and there were older people who, at the time, weren’t very nice to the kids. It was a bit of anarchic. The police would stop there a lot because of this. We (the younger people) ended up having to experience these issues in a way that made us grow up faster, in my opinion, even though we weren’t involved in many of the scenes. This made me see a bad side that I used as an example to be better. Right now, it’s super safe to go to the skatepark and everyone is welcome.

Do you think the park still represents what it did for you when you were a kid?

When I started going there I wasn’t exactly a “kid” anymore, I only started skating when I was 18, even though my social life started late around that time, but although the park isn’t the best in terms of ramps and so on, it’s a place that is cozy for me and I like going there even without skating sometimes.

Has anything changed since the video came out? Has there been any work or improvements to the park?

There wasn’t, unfortunately the city council of São João doesn’t have much regard for the skatepark, the current one has wood from the old one so that construction would be cheaper and the floor is a very old cement that is very rough which makes skateboarding more difficult and not very appealing.

How do you think videos like “Barbezieux” can influence the local scene?

In my opinion, it’s always good for this type of video to exist to show outsiders what we are like and what we have so that they can understand how we’ve grown and what our style is. São João has some great spots that people don’t know about and I think Barbezieux helps people see that and motivates them to enjoy these spots.

How long did you walk around with the camera on your back until this came out?

I always rode with her in the car two and a half years before Barbezieux came out, sometimes we would meet in the park and they would have an idea to record something somewhere and we would go alone.

Was there anyone who really surprised you during filming?

There was Daniel Esteves, he really has a lot of energy and a really cool style, it was always easy when I was going to film something with him because he got the scenes right quickly and it surprised me because I wasn’t used to skating street very often and it seemed like something natural, however I had a lot of pleasure in recording everyone, Sérgio Fernandes also has really interesting and unique tricks and although he doesn’t do many moves they were really enjoyable to record.

Who took the stupidest fall in the video?

It’s in the credits section, it was one by Gonçalo Almeida, unfortunately there was no touch in the part but there was a really cool day when we were skating in a spot in São João and his legs stopped working when he went for a 50-50 and it was so good to see ahahah.

Do you have any clips that give you goosebumps every time you watch them?

Tiago Correia’s 50-50 in an aggressive curb that we have here in São João that appears at the beginning of the part. The video doesn’t do justice to the spot and I remember how happy I was when he did it, whenever I pass by the spot with people (even those who don’t skate and don’t care) I always say that I have a friend who did that on a skateboard.

What was harder: filming or enduring the editing?

I can’t say for sure what was harder because I loved doing both and as I mentioned before, I didn’t give myself what the video deserved in terms of editing, so I can say that the most challenging part was that we filmed it.

By the way, what did you edit with? And why in that program?

In Imovie on the cell phone purely and simply because it is a program that I am familiar with and I accepted that everything would be there, it was a lazy decision.

The video has a very real vibe — did you go for it or did it come out that way by accident?

It was something natural, from the beginning I knew that the video was not going to be a showcase of maneuvers so I already had in mind that what I wanted to do was show who we are and how we do what we do and in my opinion that was very clear.

Why did you include scenes with police officers and grumpy people? Is it to show that skateboarding still bothers people?

This is part of what was natural for me, whether we like it or not, this kind of issue still happens and will always happen. It wasn’t to prove any point, but it is perfectly normal to be kicked out of certain spots that can be more uncomfortable for people and I think it’s kind of absurd to go against that, we know perfectly well that it is more complicated to record in certain spots and we go anyway, but when we are kicked out we simply have to accept it and not argue or get screwed. We lose our reason if we do that, just try another day and that’s it.

Did people understand what you were doing right away or did you have to explain it 100 times?

People already knew, even before doing it I already had ideas about it and I was talking to people (maybe sometimes it was even annoying with that ahahah) and during the process I was commenting and exchanging ideas with some people.

Do you have any tips that you haven’t given?

I have some that I had in mind that didn’t end up happening but it’s not too late and the spots are close so I wasn’t frustrated by that.

Are you cooking up more videos or was this just a creative rant?

I’ve already spoken to the guys and we’re planning to release Barbezieux 2. We already have some tunes in mind and we’ll start recording very soon!

If you were to film “Barbezieux” again now, what would you do differently?

In terms of filming, I wouldn’t change anything, I would and will pay more attention to the editing part of course, that’s a change I’ll make in this next Barbezieux

What was the biggest truth you learned from making this video?

That when we have an idea we must try to act to make it real even if that means failing miserably. The final result and the Barbezieux process screamed how important this is and since then I have tried to make the scenes that go through my head and I have felt that this has helped me in different things in life.

Bruno, thank you for taking the initiative to grab the camera and get the gang together to do a project like this! And let’s wait and see Barbezieux 2!

Tomorrow I’m going to start filming some scenes for Barbezieux 2! Honestly, this interview question gave me even more excitement and reminded me of what’s important and why I did what I did the way I did it.