Through interviews and guerilla footage of graffiti writers in action on five continents, the documentary tells the story of graffiti from its origins in prehistoric cave paintings thru its notorious explosion in New York City during the 70’s and 80’s, then follows the flames as they paint the globe.
They are known as "shock activists", surprising again and again with radical-provocative, often illegal art actions. Up-close insights into the work of the artist collective and the Berlin graffiti scene.
Loosely based on Charles Dicken’s book “A Tale of Two Cities”, Working Class tells the tale of underground street artists Mike Giant and Mike Maxwell and their decade long friendship that started with a tattoo. The story is told through the cities they call home by, cutting back and forth between the neighborhoods of San Francisco and San Diego, as the artists talk about their life philosophies and the work they create.
From Brooklyn to the Bronx, Soho to Greenwich, Union Square to Wall Street... Join us and the friends, collaborators and gallery owners who supported Jean-Michel Basquiat throughout his life. The first ever recognized graffiti artist, who saw international success as a neo-expressionist painter in the 80s, Basquiat is a true contemporary hero who died at the peak of his career.
Roadsworth: Crossing the Line details a Montreal stencil artist's clandestine campaign to make his mark on the city streets. As he is prosecuted at home and celebrated abroad, Roadsworth struggles to defend his work, define himself as an artist and address difficult questions about art and freedom of expression. - Written by Loaded Pictures
Keith Haring: The Message was released in conjunction with the Keith Haring retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. Directed by famed designer, Madonna stylist and Haring confidante Maripol, The Message goes pretty deep into both the artist and the city and times he’ll forever be identified with: New York City, circa the 1980s. The focus, as the title indicates, is upon the “struggles that animated” Keith Haring’s work, his activism – in a word, his “message.”
This one is dedicated to all writers. The long awaited and much anticipated Affiti Gray #1 is now available, feat. A solid variety of bombing, freights and walls along with a good amount of live painting actions. Containing new as well as classic footage, this video is pure graffiti – no filler content. Featuring tons and tons of quality fr8s from writers around the U.S., this video will surely please. Classic SF Graffiti. Throw ups, pieces, and tags from various writers. Live piecing on walls, live fr8 painting, live bombing and live transit painting and more. Check this one out, and enjoy the great music aswell!
A take on the Valparaíso's graffiti scene through the eyes of "Quirón", a local artist.
The journey continues, and once again the target is Stockholm city… The 2nd episode of Area 08 features many whole trains and live backjumps from Stockholm, Sweden. There's a lot of tagging and painting of trains and metros from WUFC-SDK, PMS, FAME, HNR. The style and a soundtrack were inspired at the time by the famous Dirty Handz 2.
The third and final episode of the Dirty Handz trilogy was released in 2006, but all events took place before 2001. This video symbolises the culmination of the controversial activity of the graffiti artists through a retrospective look at the actors. The film is entirely made by members of the SDK crew and follows a European tour of one of their members, tired of the monotony of the Parisian environment. There is an analysis of the different operational techniques writers use in each country.
Celebrating London’s women mural artists, documenting WOM Collective's Street Art Jam and graffiti workshop at Stockwell Hall of Fame.
Things I Learned at 30 is a short documentary about graffiti artist Chek's process of remaking his understanding of art through a chain of events he encountered during a difficult period in his life.
Buenos Aires is a complex, chaotic city. It has European style and a Latin American heart. It has oscillated between dictatorship and democracy for over a century, and its citizens have faced brutal oppression and economic disaster. Throughout all this, successive generations of activists and artists have taken to the streets of this city to express themselves through art. This has given the walls a powerful and symbolic role: they have become the city’s voice. This tradition of expression in public space, of art and activism interweaving, has made the streets of Buenos Aires into a riot of colour and communication, giving the world a lesson in how to make resistance beautiful.
Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant's PBS documentary tracks the rise and fall of subway graffiti in New York in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
A documentary about graffiti artists in the capital of China.
Paris 1983: They are between 14 and 18 and write their names on the walls of the city. Inspired by the New York phenomenon, they do not simply reproduce the forms. They create their own style, their required letters and inspire an entire generation. They communicate through letters of their name. They are called Writers.
Documentary about the anonymous graffiti artist KBTR.
Street art, creativity and revolution collide in this beautifully shot film about art’s ability to create change. The story opens on the politically charged Thailand/Burma border at the first school teaching street art as a form of non-violent struggle. The film follows two young girls (Romi & Yi-Yi) who have escaped 50 years of civil war in Burma to pursue an arts education in Thailand. Under the threat of imprisonment and torture, the girls use spray paint and stencils to create images in public spaces to let people know the truth behind Burma's transition toward "artificial democracy." Eighty-two hundred miles away, artist Shepard Fairey is painting a 30’ mural of a Burmese monk for the same reasons and in support of the students' struggle in Burma. As these stories are inter-cut, the film connects these seemingly unrelated characters around the concept of using art as a weapon for change.
This documentary follows the lives and careers of a collective group of do-it-yourself artists and designers who inadvertently affected the art world.
Docudrama about a young graffiti artist in suburban Saint Petersburg, Russia