DIRECTOR: Jon Reiss
PRODUCER: Jon Reiss, Kate Christensen, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Tracy Wares
COUNTRY: USA, Spain, Brazil, and others
YEAR: 2007
RELATED WEBSITES: http://www.bombit-themovie.com/BRIEF: We thought this terrific doc, completed last year, would have had a theatrical distribution date for Dallas by now—but no such luck, so we’re including it in this year’s schedule. Is it the biggest art movement ever seen or merely a multi-million dollar vandalism problem? These days, we are as likely to encounter graffiti-influenced art in the Smithsonian as we are on an urban bus ride or in mainstream advertising. The most subversive and controversial art form currently shaping international youth culture, graffiti raises important questions that delve deep into our contemporary social structure. Using a myriad of original interviews with artists from around the world as well as guerilla footage of graffiti writers in action, award-winning director Jon Reiss follows the advent of contemporary graffiti from its modern birthplace in the slums of Philadelphia to its notorious emergence as a visual adjunct to the rise of the hip-hop culture in 1970’s New York City, culminating in its current, varied and highly complex and controversial form. Whether you agree with the street artists or not, audiences will be undeniably engrossed by this captivating film. 93mins.
