The New York Graffiti Experience

The 30-year legacy of the murder of black teenager Yusuf Hawkins by a group of young white men in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, as his family and friends reflect on the tragedy and the subsequent fight for justice that inspired and divided New York City.

“I laugh out of life’s void” Korea’s very first hippie, Han Dae Soo, bursts out a laughter. Some musicians talk about love or hope, Han Dae Soo’s music roots in pain. His songs are about freedom even in the most oppressive circumstances. He prepares to release his last album in 2020. A master’s recording session is full of improvisation and energy. As a man of over 70 years old, his voice has gotten deeper and stronger with age. His is a husband and a father and a human dwelling upon the possibility of death approaching. As a youngster he exerted sharp criticism towards society, but on his last album it leans more towards reflection and regret rather than anger. Han Dae Soo tells us his last story strolling through the streets of Manhattan and Namdaemun. The aged hippie’s laughter still resonates with joy.

In the hills of Los Angeles the reclusive, stylish and enigmatic 96-year-old Harumi Taniguchi spent decades painting, writing poetry and dancing in her home designed by architect Richard Neutra.

Writing a letter to Paul B. Preciado, trans philosopher and filmmaker, as one would write to a friend. Undertake a healing process as a queer child growing up in a Spanish evangelical family. From Lausanne to New York, Lézio Schiffke-Rodriguez follows in the footsteps of revolutions that invite us to redefine our vision of binary bodies.

The best known, "Weegee's New York" (1948), presents a surprisingly lyrical view of the city without a hint of crime or murder. Already this film gives evidence, here very restrained, of Weegee's interest in technical tricks: blur, speeded up or slowed-down film, a lens that makes the city's streets curve as if cars are driving over a rainbow. - The New York Times

Time Is Illmatic is a feature length documentary film that delves deep into the making of Nas' 1994 debut album, Illmatic, and the social conditions that influenced its creation.

M2M's first original long-form documentary, Battle at Versailles, follows an event in 1973 at Palace of Versailles where top French designers such as Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Cardin faced of against American newcomers Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Anne Klein and Halston. That pitted France’s best designers against the best America had to offer. It was the first time the fashion world's gaze was fixated on American design.

Filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond spent three months in 1976 riding along with patrol officers in the 44th Precinct of the South Bronx, which had the highest crime rate in New York City at that time.

This film from Bill Moyers is the first documentary to focus exclusively on people formerly detained in New York City’s notorious Rikers Island Jail. They tell their compelling stories direct to the camera, revealing the violent arc of the Rikers experience – from the trauma of entry to extortion and control by inmates, to oppressive corrections officers, violence and solitary confinement.

A remarkable walk through the life and work of the French artist Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), one of the most important creators of the 20th century, revolutionary of arts, aesthetics and pop culture.

As a teenager in the '90s, Soleil Moon Frye carried a video camera everywhere she went. She documented hundreds of hours of footage and then locked it away for over 20 years.

One of Britain’s greatest landscape artists, Eric Ravilious, is killed in a plane crash while on commission as Official War Artist in Iceland in 1942. His life is as compelling and enigmatic as his art, set against the dramatic wartime locations that inspire him. This film brings to life this unique and still grossly undervalued British artist caught in the crossfire of war 80 years ago, whose legacy largely sank without trace, until now…

Klaus Kinski has perhaps the most ferocious reputation of all screen actors: his volatility was documented to electrifying effect in Werner Herzog’s 1999 portrait My Best Fiend. This documentary provides further fascinating insight into the talent and the tantrums of the great man. Beset by hecklers, Kinski tries to deliver an epic monologue about the life of Christ (with whom he perhaps identifies a little too closely). The performance becomes a stand-off, as Kinski fights for control of the crowd and alters the words to bait his tormentors. Indispensable for Kinski fans, and a riveting introduction for newcomers, this is a unique document, which Variety called ‘a time capsule of societal ideals and personal demons.’

Woman on Fire follows Brooke Guinan, the first openly transgender firefighter in New York City. A character-driven documentary, the film follows Brooke as she sets out to challenge perceptions of what it means to be transgender in America today.

As Black and LGBTQ+ History Month begin this February, material science clothing brand PANGAIA leads celebrations with a poetic film that honors these two communities. Following a year of isolation, and with it a deeper understanding of the importance of outdoor spaces and the environment, Wè is a portrait of the self-love and acceptance we have learned to show others and gift to ourselves.

White Flag : Flipside, Not Alright, Communication Breakdown G.B.H. : Gimme Fire, Wild Thing, I Am The Hunted 7 Seconds : This Is My Life, out of Touch, Skins brains guts Tesco Vee : worshiping /s - 7 seconds with a cat and a guessing game with: SSD doing Shangri-las, White Flag doing Pink Floyd & GBH doing the Buzzcocks. Battalion of Saints : I Wanna Make You Scream Minor Threat : Stand Up And Be Counted, Stepping Stone Rodney Mullen skating Minor Threat: betray & Jeff Nelson Brian baker (skating) it Follows Big Boys : Brickwall Stretch Marks : Professional Punks Urinals/100 Flowers : California Falling, Surfing With The Shaw, With: Keith Morris and D Boon Black Flag : Scream in Mike Muir's garage Kraut : Kill For Cash Minutemen : Split Red, Life As A Rehearsal, Ack Ack Ack Ack Angst : This Guns For You, Neil Armstrong Dickies : If Stuart Could Talk, Manny, Moe, and Jack, You Drive Me Ape, Gigantor ENDCLIPS: The Avengers, The Eyes, 45 Grave, SIN 34

In 1892, Ellis Island, in New York Bay, became the main gateway to the United States for immigrants arriving increasingly from Europe. The story of immigration to the United States from 1892 to 1954, an enthralling polyphonic narrative that embraces both small and great history.

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.

At work on his Elegies and Windows series, Motherwell examines his place in the Abstract Expressionist movement, which he calls the first original American movement in the "mainstream," and its practitioners "the last romantics." He distinguishes between his large paintings and his intimate papier collée. Motherwell recollects the state of American art in the 1940s and the impact of European emigré painters on the younger generation of emerging artists. He discusses the significance of collage, or papier collée, as an artist's medium and explains how he first became involved with this process. Motherwell offers his interpretations of earlier directions in art and his response to the object oriented painting that emerged in America in the 1960s. A unique document of one of the founding members of the New York School. He died in 1991.

“Christo: Works in Progress” takes us around the world on a showcase of the artist’s grand environmental installations. With both critique and praise from members of the communities that have hosted Christo and his works, the film takes a deep look into the process and outcome of pieces such as Wrapped Coast, Running Fence, and Wrapped Walkways. While discussing his inspirations and motives, Christo states, “The work of art is not the fabric, steel poles and cable, the work of art is the hills and the ocean, the sky, the gates, the rocks, the people, the light- this is the work of art.” (Christo Vladimirov Javacheff) Though his work may appear to be visually distracting from the landscapes he creates in, Christo’s aim is to bring attention to the land itself and encourage people to take note of their surroundings.