Almost eighty years after its first American boom, the yo-yo has been many things: a nostalgia toy, a novelty premium, a contest event, a collector’s obsession. We Are Throwers set out to document what it had become for the people still spinning one — not as an outside curiosity, but as a sport, an art form, and for some, simply a way of living.
Released in 2017, the 58-minute documentary was shot entirely by and for yo-yo players, filmed across the United States, Japan, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Iceland. It followed no single competitor’s arc and crowned no champion. Instead it asked players from around the world why they still pick a string up off the floor.
A Love Letter, Crowdfunded
The film began as an Indiegogo campaign in May 2015, led by Polish filmmaker Piotrek Śmietana. The pitch was explicit about what it was not: not another highlight reel of contest freestyles, and not a film made by outsiders explaining the hobby to itself. YoYoNews described it at the time as “a love letter to the yoyo community,” built from the perspective of the players making it.
Backer rewards leaned into that community-made identity rather than typical crowdfunding swag. Contributors could pledge for limited-edition YoYoRecreation Draupnirs, one-off anodizing test runs from CLYW, and gear from other manufacturers, alongside T-shirts and DVD copies of the finished film. Higher tiers promised a “THROWER edition” DVD bundled with a photobook and bonus footage from each country visited, and top backers were offered a highly limited collector’s DVD or Blu-ray digipack with production stills and creator signatures.
Three Continents, No Single Star
Production stretched across multiple years and three continents. Reviewers and forum members who tracked the project noted its patient, wide-lens approach: no single player carries the story, and a large number of notable throwers appear across its runtime rather than one headline subject. Players credited in the finished film include John Ando, Eric Bergmann, Patrick Borgerding, and Sebastian Brock, among many others captured across the trip.
That structure was deliberate. Rather than build toward a single competitive climax, We Are Throwers used its travel across the U.S., Japan, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Iceland to show how differently the same string, weighted disc, and open floor could be used depending on who was holding it.
Watch the Full Documentary
Launch and Reception
The finished film launched digitally on January 8, 2017, distributed through Reel House. Wide purchase and rental access followed on July 30, 2017 — $15 to buy, $6 to rent, delivered as a DRM-free 1080p MP4 compatible with Mac, iPad, and iPhone. YoYoExpert marked the release with limited-edition We Are Throwers merchandise, including branded shirts and a tie-in yo-yo edition.
Community reaction on the YoYoExpert forums was enthusiastic and fast. One early viewer called it “10/10 recommend — it far exceeded my expectations.” Another wrote simply, “Bought. Watched. Loved.” A third said they had already watched it twice, “interrupted by inspired throwing sessions” in between.
What it means to do this simple, complex, frustrating, zen-like and exciting thing.
That line, from a forum commenter describing the film’s throughline, captured why the project resonated: it treated throwing itself, not competitive ranking, as the subject worth documenting.
From Paywall to Free
The film played the festival circuit in the years after release, including a nomination for Best Feature Film at The Monthly Film Festival’s July–August 2017 edition, and picked up an IMDb user rating in the high 7s out of 10. By 2021, the paywall came down entirely — We Are Throwers became available for free streaming on its official site, closing the loop on a project that began as a community-funded love letter and ended as a freely shared piece of yo-yo history.
We Are Throwers Timeline
- March 2015: A first trailer circulates ahead of the crowdfunding launch.
- May 2015: Director Piotrek Śmietana launches the We Are Throwers Indiegogo campaign.
- 2015–2016: Production travels across the U.S., Japan, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Iceland.
- January 8, 2017: The film launches digitally through Reel House.
- July 30, 2017: Wide purchase/rental access opens at $15/$6; YoYoExpert releases tie-in merchandise.
- July–August 2017: The film is a Best Feature Film nominee at The Monthly Film Festival.
- 2021: We Are Throwers becomes available to stream for free on its official site.