Roadsworth‘s notoriety, already well-entrenched in Montreal and the art world, is about to spread. Director Alan Kohl and the National Film Board have just released a new documentary about Peter Gibson and his imaginative stencil graffiti. Here’s the official synopsis to accompany the six-minute trailer you can see above:
Roadsworth: Crossing the Line details a Montreal stencil artist’s clandestine campaign to make his mark on the city streets. As he is prosecuted at home and celebrated abroad, Roadsworth struggles to defend his work, define himself as an artist and address difficult questions about art and freedom of expression. (…) [The film] is a portrait of an outsider in search of himself, and the city that struggles to embrace him. It offers a glimpse into the rapidly expanding culture of street art, which silently demands that we rethink our public space. This is a film about taking risks, which shows us that sometimes dissent is necessary.
You can watch more clips from the film on the NFB’s CITIZENShift blog. I’m not entirely sure when the film will be released on DVD but the packaging, designed by local firm Pink Gorilla, looks fabulous.