Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at SXSW 2011 and hailed by The New York Times as "the best movie about the life and world of skateboarders since Dogtown," Dragonslayer documents the transgressions of Josh "Skreech" Sandoval, a local skate legend from the stagnant suburbs of Fullerton, California, in the aftermath of America's economic collapse.

Executive produced by Christine Vachon (Kids, Boys Don't Cry), the film takes the viewer through a golden SoCal haze of lost youth, broken homes and abandoned swimming pools, set to a soundtrack of bands from Mexican Summer and Kemado Records - including Best Coast, Bipolar Bear, Children, Dungen, Jacuzzi Boys, Little Girls and The Soft Pack - as well as Death and Thee Oh Sees.

WINNER! Grand Jury Award, SXSW
WINNER! Best Cinematography, SXSW
WINNER! Best International Feature, Hot Docs

Reviews

"The most riveting movie about the life and world of skateboarders since Dogtown."
- The New York Times

"The measured vérité style of Frederick Wiseman meets the visual polish of Terrence Malick." - Indiewire

"The Donnie Darko of documentaries: cogent and atmospheric, charismatic and elliptical, shot with a beery, stale amber warmth." - Paper Magazine

"Outstanding. A-!" - Entertainment Weekly

"A youth culture backdropped by the crumbling edge of California is rendered with punk rock energy and grace...carries the imprint of experimental narrative filmmaking à la Gus Van Sant." - Los Angeles Times

"CRITIC'S PICK! Dragonslayer is a submersion in an endless summer subculture. Patterson's one-of-a-kind hybrid captures a socio-historical moment with the kind of charged authenticity that only comes from a willingness to embrace contradictions: It's discursive and hypnotic, laconic and urgent." - Village Voice

"Dragonslayer is more than a slice of life - it's a chunk of skin." - Interview Magazine