Underground yo-yo doc ‘Throw’ gets Baltimore premiere

On Wednesday night, Coffin Nachtmahr had a Highlandtown crowd on a string with yo-yo acrobatics. By the next day, he was in Aspen, Colo., for another screening of the documentary short about his life. Throw is part of Mountainfilm’s world tour.
Along with the tour, the documentary short created by Emerging Technology Centers-based Early Light Media will head to film festivals in Washington state, Ohio and D.C.
The folks who see the film along the way are getting a look at the subculture of yo-yo throwing — and life in East Baltimore.

If you missed #ThrowFilm by @Earlylightbalt, you missed a helluva thing. #OhYesYo @DarrenDurlach @DaveJLarson pic.twitter.com/wojf2ketmc

— Luke Rollins (@LukeARollins) August 25, 2016

Crowds have already been impressed. At Mountainfilm in Telluride earlier this year, the film won the Director’s Choice Award. At one screening, the film earned a standing ovation from a two-floor auditorium. The festival also marked the first time Nachtmahr had seen the film.
“I just play instinctively,” he said.
Wednesday night’s event at the Creative Alliance marked the local premiere of Throw, which Early Light Media’s Dave Larson and Darren Durlach filmed over a year as a passion project outside of the studio’s commercial work.

The film shows how the yo-yo became a passion for a misunderstood kid coming up in an area where violence is part of reality. But it’s more than a coping mechanism. He’s really good, and he’s enlisted others.
Nachtmahr has a company, too. With OhYesYo, he is looking to spread throwing. Along with film screenings, the team also went to the World YoYo Contest in Cleveland earlier this month.
“We make just enough to make more product, just to be able to give it away to people,” he said.