Raze the Roof

Hip Hop dance is very much a part of NZ’s youth culture. Many people perceive Hip Hop as having a negative influence on our young people.

This documentary is set to dispel that myth.

Four groups of teenagers, from four different schools let us into their world as they prepare for a high school hip hop dance comp held in Auckland. They organise themselves, their costumes and their rehearsals; they laugh, they cry, and they argue themselves into a 6 minute routine that represents who and what they are. Their unrelenting commitment to “being the best” is testament to their character and determination to achieve something that they are revered for by their peers and admired (well mostly) by their families and teachers.

For many of them their talent far exceeds their years “I have a lot in me, not just what my parents have given me. I want show everyone that I’m not just a Pacific Island boy - I have talent, and I want to show everyone” says Semi Nemo , 17 years, Mangere College. He is one of the choreographers of their 30 strong group who came 1st in the South Auckland heat.

James Cook College in Manurewa, Mangere College in Mangere, Kelston Boys High, West Auckland and St Peters Catholic Boys School in Epsom all feature in this doco, which is about the kids, driven by the the kids and voiced by the kids. Well why shouldn’t it be, it’s their story.