Mario Barth: Under The Skin

PHOENIX

A terrible accident leaves a young soldier horribly scarred, but his rediscovery of art heals his wounded soul, in this brief but powerful animated documentary.

D'Inked is a documentary about the development of laser tattoo removal technology and how it has changed the culture of tattoos. The film follows a man named Jake on his 5-year journey through the process of removing a full color half sleeve tattoo. The film also features interviews with prominent figures in the tattoo and laser removal communities discussing the technological, physical and ethical realities of removing what has always been considered a definition of permanent.

La folie du tatouage

“The Inked Family” follows a couple of married Latvian-born tattoo artists – Anrijs and Monami Frost of online fame. They’re now living in Liverpool with their daughter, and their previous lives in Latvia seem almost surreal to them. The film traces Monami’s past, and the couple’s current lives and the success they’ve found as tattoo artists.

In 1965 actor and hopeful first time director Titus Moede befriended ‘Preacher’ of the outlaw motorcycle club the Coffin Cheaters while looking for a project. He soon realized that this was exactly the subject he had been looking for.

La peau du milieu

In March 2018, elite tattoo artists from across the globe came together in Chattanooga, Tennessee to celebrate the intersection of literary fantasy and artistic magic at the inaugural Literary Ink convention. “Literary Ink: A Wizard’s Journey” explores the lives, dreams, techniques and artistic inspiration of four of these Tattoo Wizards.

Inuit traditional face tattoos have been forbidden for a century, and almost forgotten. Director Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, together with long-time friend and activist Aaju Peter, is determined to uncover the mystery and meaning behind this beautiful ancient tradition. Together they embark on an adventure through Arctic communities, speaking with elders and recording the stories of a once popularized female artform. Central to the film is Arnaquq-Baril’s personal debate over whether or not to get tattood herself. With candour and humour, she welcomes us into her world, to experience firsthand the complex emotions that accompany her struggle. Past meets present in this intimate account of one woman’s journey towards self-empowerment and cultural understanding.

A bold reveal of a rose tattoo opens this 1980 documentary on tattooing in New Zealand. The potted history includes visits to tattoo parlours on K' Road and Hastings, and the studios of industry legends Steve Johnson and Roger Ingerton. Tattooists discuss public stigma, people's reasons for getting inked, and popular designs: sailors, serpents, swallows and tā moko. Made for documentary slot Contact, Skin Pics chronicles a time when "folk art has become high art".

Tattooing — "the world's oldest skin game" — is the subject of this iconic documentary. Writer/director Geoff Steven scored a major coup by signing Easy Rider legend Peter Fonda as his presenter. Travelling to Aotearoa, Samoa, Japan and the United States, the doco traces key developments in tattooing, including its importance in the Pacific, prison-inspired styles, and the influence of 1960s counterculture. Legendary tattooists feature (including Americans Ed Hardy and Jack Rudy), while the closing credits parade some eye-opening full body tattoos.

A visit with a master of the Oldest Art In The World: tattooing. Disabled by arthritis since the age of four, confined to a wheelchair, his growth stunted, Stoney St. Clair joined the circus at 15 as a sword swallower. A year later he took up tattooing, and traveled with circuses and carnivals for fifty years practicing his craft. As we watch him at work, we see the determination which led Stoney to use his crippled hands in an art where mistakes are permanent, and we realize Stoney has overcome his handicap to heal himself and others with the magic of symbols. The film ends with a visit by New Age tattoo master Don Ed Hardy, who receives a permanent souvenir by Old School tattoo master Stoney.

Horitoshi Sensei is one of the last accomplished masters of irezumi, the art of traditional Japanese tattoo. Pascal is a young French journalist specialized in tattoo who discovered Horitoshi’s designs in a magazine and felt in love with them. Although he does not have much money, Pascal decided to go to Tokyo to have all his back tattooed by Horitoshi. When the film starts, he is at his fourth trip, but his tattoo is far from being finished. Pascal is our guide in this travel to discover irezumi.

Documentary based on interviews during the Birmingham Tattoo Convention in the early '90s.

Ang Babae sa Likod ng Mambabatok unravels the multiple layers of the almost mythological figure-living legend, Fang Od, a 92 year old woman who has been called the ‘Last [Traditional] Tattoo Artist of Kalinga.’ The first layer of the story is the one she is most famous for-being a tattoo artist. At her eyes, she continues to exhibit sharpness and precision in the very demanding art and skill of tattooing. The second layer shows her many stories as woman who has reached the age of looking back. She regales us with stories of her many suitors, of her youth, the dancing and the feasts. She also looks back with not just a tinge of regret that she never married nor had children of her own. Her body covered in tattoos is a landscape on its own mirroring the map of a woman who has chosen wittingly or unwittingly a road diverging from convention and in the process became a culture-bearer.

A group of students visit Goa and Hampi while on their college trip. Their experiences during their journey help them understand the intricacies of love and friendship.

American tattoo artist Jake Sawyer wanders the world, exploring and exploiting ethnic themes in his tattoo designs. At a tattoo expo in Singapore, he gets his first glimpse at the exotic world of traditional Samoan tattoo (tatau), and, in a thoughtless act, unwittingly unleashes a powerful angry spirit. In his devastating journey into Pacific mysticism, Jake must find a way to save his new love, Sina and recover his own soul.

In a small supermarket in a blue collar town, a black man smiles at a 10 year old white boy across the checkout aisle. This innocuous moment sends two gangs into a ruthless war that ends with a shocking backlash.

A shy tattoo artist must infiltrate a notorious gang of surf witches to discover what happened to her missing brother.

Ethan Dent is a bereaved English teenager. Dent's brother was murdered under suspicious circumstances and Dent has never fully come to terms with his loss. However, everything in Dent's life changes when he meets a man who has a striking resemblance to his brother. Slowly the man begins to convince Dent to get a tattoo to remember his brother and things begin to unravel from there.