Just to Get a Rep

Description

Official Selection
CPH:Dox Copenhagen Documentary Festival
Calgary International Film Festival
Edinburgh International Film Festival

Synopsis

More than thirty years ago, the youth of New York’s neglected neighborhoods started a revolution by spray-painting their names on subway trains. The energy and freedom of this expression has inspired generations of youth throughout the world, yet the established authorities and institutions continually deny its merit. Working against the powers of the media, the police, and the art world, aerosol artists have developed a unique worldwide culture based on respect, camaraderie and a shared struggle to re-claim and re-create their environments. Just to Get a Rep rigorously examines the love-hate relationship between graffiti and hip-hop. Hear the true story of aerosol art as told by New York’s pioneers as well as today’s innovators from all over the world.

Director

Peter Gerard is an indefatigable filmmaker who finds the extraordinary in the ordinary. His first documentary,”Out of Breath” looked at teen life in the Midwestern town in which he grew up. The film won the Audience Favorite award at the SOFA Film Festival in Portland, Oregon and has been shown at the Royal Museum in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2000 and 2001, he produced the Bargain Basement Film Festival, a celebration of low-budget film. A multi-media visionary, he has made numerous short films, designed award-winning websites, and shown his photography in the U.S. and Britain. His most recent film, Just to Get a Rep, documents the art and history of graffiti in the U.S. and Europe.