Exit Through The Gift Shop

“A film about a man who tried to make a film about me” is how Banksy describes his first feature. The British graffiti artist is renowned for producing iconic street art and fiercely guarding his identity to avoid prosecution. Little surprise then, that he was unwilling to be filmed by an eccentric French shop owner named Thierry Guetta.
EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP traces Thierry’s attempts to capture the world of graffiti art in thrilling detail, following many of the best known vandals at work in the streets. We trace Thierry’s efforts to locate and befriend Banksy only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner – with spectacular results. An incendiary true story of low-level criminality, companionship and incompetence. The story of how one man set out to film the un-filmable. And failed.
The London newspaper ‘The Times’ once called Banksy “the true people’s painter”. His black-and-white images of kissing policemen and rioters throwing flowers are now popular icons. Banksy’s work can be seen on walls from post-hurricane New Orleans to the Palestinian West Bank. His graffiti combines wry humour with political comment – both of which can certainly to be expected from his cinematic debut, which he has dubbed “the world’s first street art disaster movie”.
by Banksy United Kingdom / USA 2009 86’

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