Flip’s Sorry is widely known as one of the best representations of modern skateboarding. This classic skate film features some of the biggest names in skateboarding that you can think of. For example, skaters such as Mark Appleyard, Bastien Salabanzi, Ali Boulala, Geoff Rowley and Arto Saari had their own full-length parts in Sorry. What makes this film even more interesting is the fact that most these parts worked as professional breakthroughs for most of these skaters. To be fair, all of them deserve their own spot on the watchlist. However, today we are concentrating on a 2001 Thrasher skater of the year (SOTY) winner Arto Saari.
Born in Seinäjoki, Finland, Arto Saari’s influence has paved the way for both his native Finns and other European skaters alike in a very North American driven industry. Instead of growing up in a hot-spot of skateboarding, he shed light to the fact that you can become a pro even in the coldest and harshest of conditions.
Saari’s appearance in Sorry represents one of the first parts where huge handrails and big gaps were absolutely destroyed with effortless style. Some keen-eyed watcher might have also noticed that a lot of the tricks are done both regular and switch back to back. No matter what he did, it always looked like he’d never even left the ground. The most remarkable thing in Saari’s part (or the whole film actually) is how well it has maintained the test of time.
Don’t believe it? See for yourself.
Arto Saari is on insta too!
Arto Saari has lately been mostly focusing on his photography which is of course heavily influenced skateboarding. If you are interested in his work you can check it out here.