REVIEWS OF THE GRAFFITI VERITE’ DVD SERIES

Graffiti Verite': Read the Writing on the Wall  (DVD)  Graffiti Verite' explores the underground graffiti scene of urban Los Angeles.  The documentary interviews 24   graffiti artists and features footage of their bold, colorful outdoor work. The interviewees draw a connection   between their work and ancient hieroglyphics and cave paintings and also describe graffiti art as a subversive   means of counter-programming the culture.  After all, graffiti art on walls and fences contends with equally large   advertising billboards, and strives to convey something separate from commercialism. Painting a fresh picture of   graffiti enthusiasts, the documentary annihilates the image of the graffiti vandal and introduces the graffiti artist.   ~ Betsy Boyd, All Movie Guide 

Graffiti Verite': Read the Writing on the Wall  (DVD)  This fresh and honest documentary dispels myths about the impact of graffiti art in American urban culture.   Interviews with East Coast and West Coast graffiti artists discuss the impact of hip-hop culture and how important  the role of graffiti plays as a positive creative force for young people, while at the same time it is demoted to the   status of vandalism and crime.  

The interviews are rarely informal, with many of the artists revealing the personal, political, and social messages   they want to say in their art. While brutally aware that they are perceived as thugs or gangsters in mainstream   society, the artists compare their own work to Picasso or Dali, with an understanding that the city walls and streets   are their canvases. Many different letter styles and "crazy style" word forms are shown with incredible color and   depth, and some of the artists discuss the "can control" necessary to create the giant murals. Also discussed is the   difference between tagging and piecing, as well as the evolution of the graffiti artist. One of the older artists gives   a brief history of the art form, which originated in Latino neighborhoods when plain black paint, brushes, and   stencils were used before the introduction of the aerosol spray can. Some aspects of graffiti art have proliferated   beyond the streets, as in art galleries and Peter Sellers' production I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then   I Saw the Sky, an opera about the L.A. earthquakes which commissioned real graffiti street artists to paint the   backdrops. Fortunately leaving out the glossy hype common to this often commercially appropriated subject   matter, Graffiti Verite' is a welcome introduction to this misunderstood art form.    ~ Andrea LeVasseur     

Graffiti Verite' 2: Freedom of ExpreSSion?  (DVD)  The follow-up to Graffiti Verite, an award-winning documentary about urban artists,   Graffiti Verite 2: Freedom of Expression? picks up where the first documentary left off. Filmmakers travel   the streets, meeting artists who beautify dirty and dangerous neighborhoods by transforming concrete walls   into vibrant murals, and musicians who turn their street experience into catchy harmonies and bold raps.   The program features music by B-Boys, DMG & Daddy V, Black Mikey, the Psycho Realm, and others.   ~ Betsy Boyd,  All Movie Guide 

Graffiti Verite' 3: A Voyage into the Iconography of Graffiti Art  (DVD)  This is the third in a series that explores how young people express themselves in hip-hop cultures using   various types of graffiti. The first film in this series won an award for its inclusion of numerous interviews with   over two dozen of L.A.'s top graffiti artists. Artists explain why they've chosen this artistic medium and what   audience they think they're reaching.   ~ Elizabeth Smith,  All Movie Guide 

Brief Synopsis of The GV DVD Series 1-11

GV1- 11 Buy DVDs Now

GV Screening Room

Schools & Libraries

Purchase Order Form