Description

Filipino Street Art Project

A documentary-based transmedia project

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
September 22, 2014 Austin Smith, Project Co-Director
Cell: 650.815.9699
Email: filipinostreetart@gmail.com
Website: www.filipinostreetart.com
FB: www.facebook.com/streetartphilippines

Filipino-American film team brings Manila’s street art scene global

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – On October 2nd, two filmmakers will be launching a unique crowdfunding campaign, bringing seldom seen artworks from the streets of Manila to an international audience. The Filipino Street Art Project Kickstarter campaign will be the first opportunity for art enthusiasts worldwide to own original works from over 30 participating Filipino street artists, including stickers, art prints, and canvases.

Kimberly Dryden and Austin Smith, co-directors of the Filipino Street Art Project, spent six months documenting the lives of street artists in Manila with a team of Filipino cinematographers and production assistants. The anchor of the project is a feature-length documentary film exploring life in modern Manila through the diverse and intimate stories of four street artists.

“There’s so much depth and vitality to the Philippine street art scene. It is growing hand-in-hand with the Philippines as an economic player, giving these artists the opportunity to comment on the incredible social change happening in their communities. We hope by sharing their stories that we spark dialogue around both Filipino issues and the power of public art as a medium,” said Smith, whose mother was born in Pangasinan.

If the campaign is successful, funds will be used towards post-production to finish the film by Summer 2015. Each donation reward will be accompanied by an interview, photo gallery, and short video of the artist the backer chooses to support.

Beyond the film, the Filipino Street Art Project has created a set of interactive ebooks, hosted live art events at universities, contributed exhibits to Google’s Street Art Project, and had images featured in TIME and Esquire.

The Filipino Street Art Project is a documentary-based transmedia project that celebrates the power of street art to inform and empower. Using street art as a lens, it explores the culture and socio-political environment of the Philippines, an oft-overlooked but rapidly developing country with a long and complex relationship with the U.S..