help Style Wars become HD, watch the trailer for Style Wars 2

August 29, 2011

by BBG

In the early 1980s, Mayor Koch, enraged about graffiti, began buffing the city’s colorful, painted trains. In the end, he may have succeeded, but not before Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant captured the magnificent tidal wave of graffiti in their pioneering documentary, Style Wars. The film is seen around the world as an important footnote in hip hop culture and New York City history. Today, that history, too, is threatened. The original footage is damaged and fading. A new kind of buffing is taking place – a “celluloid buff” – that threatens to eradicate the record of the first brave and indomitable writers who took the world by storm.

…Public Art Films is currently on a fund-raising mission to restore the original print, and to create a new high definition master which will preserve the record of the first painted trains to its original vivid colors. We’re inviting you to take part in this historic enterprise.

…Twenty five years after its initial release there is still a strong, global demand for the film. In an effort to keep up with this demand we must be able to offer the film in the the most up-to-date formats. We are embarking on a project to restore STYLE WARS and bring it up to the highest technical standards available today in order to create a High Definition edition of the film. We will be transferring the original 16 mm negative into full HD 1080p while cleaning and restoring the film during the process. The HD master will be better, sharper and more brilliant than the original. From it we can strike new prints, author new DVDs and participate in the digital economy.

You can help by donating to the Style Wars restoration fund, to help keep this film alive. Stream the entire thing below; its an excellent snapshot of the early days of hip hop.

Meanwhile, Style Wars 2 is on the way:

It is a completely original film that makes intelligent and extremely funny references to our nearly 30-year-old film, but in contemporary situations. They use clever dialogue and audio quotes from Style Wars to establish the context. In ironic, and often hilarious scenes they engage the varios elements of the film’s narrative, such as the conflict with authorities, the cross-out wars and the emergence of graffiti in the art world, in surprising ways…. The film that Amos Angeles and Veli Silver are engaged in making is a refreshing departure from those efforts. It is exceptional and I am more than glad to support them in their efforts and eager to see the finished product.”

Check out all of Style Wars, and the trailer for Style Wars 2 below.

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Style Wars