Premiering in Miami on May 29th for the Street Culture Film Festival at O-Cinema ($12 a ticket).
In the follow-up to the explosive global graffiti documentary Bomb It, director Jon Reiss takes audiences to previously unexplored areas of the Middle East, Europe, Asia, the United States and Australia on a hunt for innovative street art and artists. Bomb It 2 explores the indigenous street art scenes in Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, Perth, Melbourne, Copenhagen, Chicago, Austin and the Palestinian refugee camps on the West Bank.
Live Skype Q&A with director Jon Reiss following the movie.
Pump Me Up: D.C. Subculture of the 1980s, the first exhibition to explore the thriving underground of Washington, D.C. during the 1980s, giving visual form to the raucous energy of graffiti, Go-Go music, and a world-renowned punk and hardcore scene.
The Legend of Cool "Disco" Dan
Film Premiere
Saturday February 23rd, 8pm is SOLD OUT - BUT we added a second screening at 10:45pm at
Discover the "other" Washington of the 1980s through the story of legendary graffiti artist Cool "Disco" Dan, a mysterious, ubiquitous presence during the height of go-go music, record crime rates and city-wide dysfunction. Few people knew every block of the city like Dan, and as intrigue about his identity grew, his illegal scrawl became a unifying force for a city on the verge of chaos.
Narrated by DC native Henry Rollins and featuring interviews with "Mayor for Life" Marion Barry, civil rights activist Rev. Walter Fauntroy, punk rock historian and activist Mark Andersen and musicians Chuck Brown and Ian MacKaye, this documentary from filmmakers Joseph Pattisall and Roger Gastman (producer, EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP) tells a fascinating chapter of DC history.
DIR Joseph Pattisall; PROD Roger Gastman. US, 2012, color and b&w, 90 min. NR. The movie will play for this one night only and is selling out fast.
This is a unique concert celebrating all sides of the Washington DC music scene with sets by Trouble Funk, Scream, Shady Groove, Black Market Baby, DJ Kool, Junkyard, Youth Brigade, Static Disruptors, Worlds Collide, w/ Special Guests Stinky Dink, DJ Tommy B and more and Hosted by Henry Rollins. Purchase tickets for the 9:30 Club DC Punk-Funk Throwback
This unique 3 day event covering museum, film and music will be like nothing you've seen before or will ever see again. You will not want to miss this!
PUMP ME UP Book
PUMP ME UP - DC SUBCULTURE OF THE 1980s is a hardcover collectible book ($44.95, 8.5” x 11,” 320 pages) and research companion to Pump Me Up: D.C. Subculture of the 1980s, the exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and College of Art + Design, and a complement to the documentary film, The Legend of COOL “DISCO” DAN.
After a long wait, WE ARE LEGION: The Story of the Hacktivists will be OPENING IN THEATRES THIS WEEK! If you're in New York or Los Angeles, please come out & support the film. And, no matter where you are, please help us get the word out.
Independent films made outside the system often face an uphill battle. Here are a few things that you can do to help:
1. WATCH AND SHARE THE TRAILER
2. GO OUT AND SEE THE FILM
New York
The Quad Cinema
34 W. 13th St., New York, NY 10011
Dates
Friday, October 19th - Thursday, October 25th
Showtimes
1:00pm, 5:15pm, 9:40pm daily
FRIDAY & SATURDAY @ 9:40
Filmmaker Brian Knappenberger & doc subjects Gregg Housh, PokeAnon, Sethdood, & (schedule-permitting) Vendetta will be on-hand for a panel discussion following the screening.
Los Angeles
Laemmle's Playhouse 7
673 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91101
Dates
Friday, October 19th - Thursday, October 25th
Showtimes
1:30pm, 4:00pm daily
SUNDAY @ 4:00
Filmmaker Brian Knappenberger will be on-hand for a Q&A following the screening.
Independent
films wedged between a largely corporatized national news media and a
blockbuster-driven SOPA-supporting Hollywood often face an uphill battle
making their budget back. Due to a huge number of requests for the
incredible Michael Byzewski designed posterfrom the film, we've decided to do a print run and sell some here to help with the costs.
We are
also very excited to start offering preorders on the DVD and BluRay.
The DVD and BluRay will be available after our theatrical run on
November 23rd and in
addition to the full film (with 5.1 surround sound) the DVD and BluRay
will include an additional 22 minutes of material. The extras will have
extended in depth interviews with some of our film's subjects, some
prominent hackers not featured in the documentary, more analysis and
thoughts on Wikileaks, further discussion about Anonymous
member-turned-FBI informant Sabu, and thoughts from tech author and
speaker Richard Thieme on how technology is re-wiring our brains and why
we need to nurture our "dark side."
Proceeds
from sales are going to the finishing, print costs, theater costs and
further distribution of We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists.
In the spirit of the film should
we make back our costs, we are donating ten percent of profits to the
Electronic Frontier Foundation. We are also donating another portion to
Free Anons and to
other human rights, or technology groups we think are behaving well
defending human rights or freedom of speech in a digital age and we will
continue to make disruptive documentaries about compelling stories and
people we think are re-shaping our world. Thank you for supporting
independent film!
The Fridge is presenting the first solo show from Asad “ULTRA” Walker, a DC graffiti artist who has been creating work for 30 years. At quiet walks in dangerous placesULTRA will show a series of all new portraits using his signature lean, angular style. ULTRA’s portraits are inspired by the people he has seen while working in the early morning hours on the streets of DC.
“When you’re out late in DC, you see a life that most people don’t experience. You notice these crazy, beautiful things that a normal person would overlook. I want to take the images and personalities of these people I’ve met into a gallery setting. I'm painting portraits of everyday people like a bouncer who has been working for 25 years and more known DC figures like H.R. from Bad Brains. I want to show the beauty of the people I see around me,” says ULTRA.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
ULTRA’s paintings use geometric shapes painted in faint monochromatic tones that layer to form light and shadow. He started writing HOBO in DC-style go-go graffiti in 1981. In the late 80’s, he moved to NYC where he picked up ideas for new styles and approaches to his art. When he moved back to DC, he changed his name to ULTRA after Ultraman, a Japanese television series that was his favorite growing up. Over his career, ULTRA took a love for graffiti styles with seemingly simple designs, like straight letters, to develop his signature streamlined, angular style.
ULTRA has previously shown work at the Smithsonian, MOCA Gallery, Workhouse Gallery, Art Whino, Lamont Bishop Gallery, Torpedo Factory, and more.
SPECIAL EVENTS
INTRO TO GRAF WORKSHOP; October 14, 1 – 3pm: Learn how to start creating your own graffiti art from veteran artist ULTRA who has watched styles in DC and NY develop for three decades. $20 for materials and supplies.
FILM SCREENING/TALK BACK; October 21, 1 – 3pm: A screening and talk back featuring three films, including the 2008 Paris Bustillos film BORF! about internationally known, DC stencil graffiti artist John Tsombikos. BORF showedPotty-trained at Gunpoint at The Fridge in 2010.
CLOSING PARTY/ARTIST TALK; October 28, 1-3pm: An informal talk about the artist’s history, influences and style.
Mit: ABIS , ACID, AZUR , BAS2, BURN, COZ CREW, ESHOK, FINO, FOTO SVEN, GLOK, HARALD P., INKA, LYTE, MICRO, ONE UP CREW, ESD, PHERS, POET, REW, ROY, RÜDIGER GLATZ, SKIM, THE CITY FAMOUS, TRON, TRUS, WESP, ZEKER81, ZOE
UNLIKE U beleuchtet vier Generationen von Sprühern in Berlin, wovon die ältesten der Hardcore-Artisten mittlerweile schon 40 Jahre alt sind und die Jüngsten um die siebzehn. Alle Protagonisten aber haben eines gemeinsam. Jeder von ihnen hat in seinem Leben schon unzählige Züge bemalt und einige von ihnen sogar um die 1000.
Mit intensiven Interviews versuchen die Filmemacher Henrik Regel und Björn Birg den Beweggründen der Sprüher auf die Spur zu kommen und herauszuarbeiten, was genau der Kick an einer Sache ist, die in der Öffentlichkeit keine Anerkennung bekommen kann. Denn schließlich handelt es sich nach offizieller Lesart um besonders schwere Sachbeschädigung und besprühte Züge, werden so schnell wie möglich aus dem Verkehr gezogen. Die Wahrscheinlichkeit also, dass ein Sprüher sein Werk in Vollendung, sprich als fahrende Leinwand zu sehen bekommt ist äußerst gering. Worin also besteht der Wert dieser Aktionen? Worin besteht die Selbstbestätigung? Was treibt diese Menschen an?
Die Filmemacher tauchten tief ein in den Kosmos der Trainwriter. Neben erstklassigen Interviews wurde ihnen auch Material zugespielt, das so noch nie zu sehen war. Der Film zeigt Hintergründe zu bestimmten Aktionen und geschichtsträchtiges Material vom legendären Corner an der Friedrichstraße, dem Treffpunkt der Berliner Sprüher in den 90er Jahren. Dem Ort also, an dem der Mythos der Berliner Writerkultur ihren Anfang nahm.
In diesem Sinne ist UNLIKE U auch kein normales Graffitivideo, in dem Action auf Action und Zug nach Zug gezeigt wird, sondern das einfühlsame Portrait einer Szene, die so noch nicht zu sehen war. Dieser Film schreibt und beinhaltet die faszinierende Geschichte einer Kultur, die ansonsten im Verborgenen bleibt und trotzdem alle Eigenschaften einer eigenständigen Kunstrichtung besitzt mit einem ganz eigenen räumlichen, zeitlichen und inhaltlichem Bezug.
From the Google translation:
UNLIKE U lit four generations of writers in Berlin, of which the oldest of hardcore artists now already 40 years old and the youngest of them seventeen. All characters have one thing in common. Each of them has painted in his life countless trains and 1000 some of them even.
Intensive interviews with the filmmakers try to rule and Henrik Bjorn Birg the motives of the sprayer to get on the track and work out what is exactly the kick of a thing that can get no recognition among the public. After all, it concerns according to the official version very serious damage to property and sprayed coatings, as quickly as possible taken out of circulation. So the probability that a sprayer gets his work to perfection, that is seen as a mobile screen is very small. So what is the value of these actions? What is the self-affirmation? What drives these people?
The filmmakers plunged deep into the cosmos of Train Writer. Besides first-class interviews, they were also leaked material that was not shown before. The film shows the reasons behind the actions and history material from the corner at the legendary Friedrichstraße, the meeting place of the Berlin sprayer in the '90s where the Berlin Writer culture began.
In this sense, UNLIKE U is not a normal graffiti video. The action is shown on the train, but it's a sympathetic portrait of a scene that had none. This film includes the fascinating story of a culture that otherwise remains hidden and yet it has all the features and art direction with its own spatial, temporal and thematic links.
With his fantastic cinema debut WHOLETRAIN Florian Gaag tells the story of a crew of four “writers” – David, Tino, Elyas und Achim – who observe the hierarchies, the values, the rules and the codes of the graffiti scene. Night after night they make off for the subway stations of the city, intent on leaving opulent images behind. But as another crew appears on the scene, and the four feel challenged, a creative battle ensues, one that will change the lives of these young people for ever.
We are confronted with life taken to the limit. Constantly on the edge of legality. Always on the run from the law. Urban space must be reclaimed. Friends are made and lost. Unbridled creativity and doing things for the sheer love of it are watchwords too.
WHOLETRAIN is an exciting and emotionally gripping drama, one that explores for the first time the secret universe of the graffiti scene. The protagonists exist in a breathless state, suspended somewhere between two worlds: their day to day life, and their existence within the crew. Florian Gaag manages to recount a tale coloured by tension and aggression. The result is a many-sided portrait of characters whose world has never been documented in this way before. Their subculture remains authentic and realistic. Edgy editing and grandiloquent camerawork, a pulsating soundtrack and an excellent ensemble of actors, make WHOLETRAIN a film experience not to be missed.
The soundtrack was written and produced by Florian Gaag, who worked with legendary figures like Hip Hop greats KRS-One, Freddie Foxxx, O.C., Planet Asia, Afu-Ra, Grand Agent, Tame One, Akrobatik and El Da Sensei. Florian Gaag also collaborated with internationally renowned graffiti artists. Writers such as Neon, Won, Cemnoz, Pure and Ciel, who were responsible for the artwork.
The DVD features SUBTITLES in 14 LANGUAGES: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Turkish, Greek, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Chinese (short and traditional) and German.
