Film / News
Banksy on Film
…by which we don’t mean actually on film, obviously, because Banksy has never appeared undisguised (or has he?, etc., etc).
Instead, to mark the upcoming UK premiere at the Arnolfini of Colin Day’s documentary Saving Banksy, we thought we’d take a quick look back at other filmmakers who’ve grabbed a slice of the lucrative Banksy pie and/or made an important contribution to our understanding of this modern cultural phenomenon (delete according to cynicism).
Banksy’s Coming for Dinner (2009)
is needed now More than ever
Dir: Ivan Massow
Yep, that Ivan Massow: the openly gay, former Tory tycoon and one-time chairman of the ICA. This was, appropriately enough, a real-time, feature-length hoax doc in which a pixelated ‘Banksy’ pitches up at a swanky dinner party hosted by Joan Collins and her hubby Percy. It’s all about questioning “the very nature of ‘reality’ at every level,” apparently.
Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
Dir: Banksy
Billed as the first ever street art disaster movie, Banksy’s very own mock-doc purports to portray him turning the tables on obsessive, borderline bonkers documentarian Thierry Guetta, encouraging him to create his own art. Alas, he only succeeds in spawning a monster. Is any of this true, or is it yet another situationist stunt? Who cares? It’s all great fun. Banksy also co-directed The Antic Roadshow doc about fellow pranksters for C4 back in 2014.
Banksy Does New York (2014)
Dir: Chris Moukarbel
An HBO doc charting Banksy’s month-long Better Out Than In New York residency back in 2013, during which he set out to create 31 works of street art in 31 days. Needless to say, Banksy hunters were soon in hot pursuit.
DocoBANKSY (2014)
Dir: Dominic Wade
An hour-long documentary with plenty of ‘found footage’ alongside talking-head interviews with the likes of Ivan Massow (yes, him again), Simon Hattenstone (the Grauniad hack who was once granted an interview with the Bankster) and Bristol City Museum’s former director Kate Brindley. It’s fair to say that Amazon user reviews of this one are polarised between five-star gushes and one-star slaggings. “This is one of the best underground documentaries on Banksy currently available,” reckons an enthusiast. “A load of nobodys, telling tales of how they, maybe, once met Bansky. Rubbish,” counters a nay-sayer.
The Banksy Job (2016)
Dir: Ian Roderick Gray & Dylan Harvey
We first wrote about this one when it was unveiled at Robert De Niro’s Tribeca festival a year ago, almost to the day. But mysteriously, it doesn’t seem to have been shown in the UK – and certainly not in Bristol – possibly because it paints a jaundiced portrait of the Banksy phenomenon rather than taking the usual cheerleading approach. A crowd-funded doc, The Banksy Job explores the origin of the feud between Banksy and colourful Yorkshireman AK47 (real name: Andy Link) – a former porn star and rave entrepreneur – told from the perspective of the latter. The story goes that Mr. AK47 bought a Banksy art print for £75 and asked a mutual friend to get the street artist to sign it for him. The alleged response from Banksy HQ was that he should not be such a “cheap northern bastard”. Feeling dissed, AK47 planned an audacious revenge that led to more than a decade of bickering. Take it outside, lads.
Advance tickets for the Arnolfini’s two screenings of Saving Banksy at 7pm on Friday April 14 and Saturday April 15 go on sale exclusively at the Arnolfini website at 9am on Thursday, April 6, 2017. The Friday screening includes an introduction and Q&A with director Colin Day. The Saturday screening includes a live panel discussion with the director along with street artists Ben Eine and Blek le Rat and Lonely Planet Street Art author Ed Bartlett. Both screenings form part of the ARNOLFINI X THE FUTURE TENSE weekend of street art-inspired events.
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