Corona Cork Film Festival

Through interviews and guerrilla footage of graffiti writers in action on five continents, Bomb It tells the story of graffiti from its roots in prehistoric cave paintings through ancient Rome and more recent Latino placas to its notorious emergence as a visual adjunct to the rise of hip-hop culture in Philadelphia and New York in the 1970s, culminating in its current variations around the globe, from Brazil where graffiti traces its roots to the anti-fascist Pichaçao writings of the 1960s and 70s, to Japan where anime-inspired rakugaki challenges conformist societal norms, to Europe where a Dadaist/surrealist tradition produces deliberately confrontational prankstering.

Bomb It also explores how graffiti writers vary in their attitudes toward the art world’s embrace of graffiti as evidenced in gallery shows and commissioned work and examines the effect ‘sanctioned’ writing has had on a form known for its guerrilla tactics and essentially subversive nature. Whatever your point of view, graffiti, postering, stencilling, and stickering form a fascinating and radical movement that defies definition except as a voice demanding to be heard. Born out of urban blight, graffiti’s tough mimetic code consistently defies the forces that try to stop it and thrives today in varied and artistically sophisticated forms.

You’ll never look at public space the same way again. - Tribeca Film Festival