Bomb It


Bomb It is an international graffiti and street art documentary directed by Jon Reiss and premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. Filmed on five continents, featuring cities such as New York, Cape Town, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Berlin and Sao Paulo, Bomb It explores the interplay between worldwide graffiti movements, the global proliferation of "Quality of Life" laws, and the fight for control over public space.
Graffiti artists across the globe joined forces with Reiss to create the film which features original footage from many controversial graffiti writers beginning with the first graffiti writer Cornbread, to those who saw the take-off of the art, TAKI 183 to more contemporary writers Shepard Fairey and Os Gemeos.
In addition to TAKI 183, the film features Tracy 168, Terrible T-Kid 170, Cope2, Stay High 149, KRS-One, Revs, 2esae, Zephyr, Cornbread, DAIM, Blek le Rat, Shuck2, Ash, Skuf, Revok, Ron English, Chaz Bojorquez, Lady Pink, Mear One, Urban Theorists Stefano Bloch and Susan Phillips, actor and filmmaker Russ Kingston, Pez, Sixe, Falko, Faith47,, Ise, Kenor & Kode, Scage, Mickey, Chino, and Ket.
George Kelling, co-author of Broken Windows, an Atlantic Monthly article that formed the basis for Rudy Giuliani's widely imitated gentrification campaign, was interviewed for this film.

Reception

The New York Times wrote, “Bomb It” isn’t the first documentary to address the history and evolution of graffiti culture, and it probably won’t be the last. But what distinguishes Jon Reiss’s lively, sure-handed film from the rest is that it widens the spectrum by taking a comprehensively international viewpoint."

''Bomb It 2''

The sequel Bomb It 2 was commissioned as a web series exclusively for the digital broadcast network Babelgum and expands the global reach of Jon Reiss’ exploration of graffiti and street art into new and unexplored areas of Asia and South East Asia, the Middle East as well as Europe, the United States and Australia.
Continuing his investigation of the most subversive and controversial art form currently shaping international youth culture, Reiss travelled by himself to Bangkok, Jakarta, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, Palestinian refugee camps on the West Bank, Perth, Melbourne, Copenhagen, Chicago and Austin. Artists featured include Klone, KnowHope, GreatBates, Zero Cents, Foma <3, INSPIRE 1, Darbotz, Killer Gerbil, Bon, Alex Face, Sloke, Husk Mit Navn, Ash, Phibs, Stormie Mills, Beejoir and many more.