Style Wars

Style Wars
Directed by	Tony Silver
Produced by	Tony Chalfant and Henry Chalfant
Starring	Various
Music by	Various
Distributed by	Public Art Films, Plexifilm
Release dates	1983 (on television), 1984 (in theatres)
Running time	70 minutes (original version), 111 minutes (Director's Cut)
Country	United States
Language	English

Style Wars is a 1983 documentary on hip hop culture, directed by Terry Silver and produced in collaboration with Henry Chalfant. The film has an emphasis on graffiti, although b-boying and rapping are covered to a lesser extent.

The film debuted in 1983 on PBS television, and was subsequently shown in several film festivals to much acclaim, including the Vancouver Film Festival. It also won the Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival.

Plot

Frosty Freeze, Ken Swift, Friend and Kippy Dee of Rock Steady Crew at Style Wars film shoot

The documentary follows the young artists of New York City struggling to express themselves through their art, and their points of view on the subject of graffiti, as well as the views of then-New York City Mayor Ed Kock, one-armed graffiti artist Kase2, graffiti artist Skeme and his mother, graffiti "villain" Cap, Dondi, Seen, Iz the Wiz, graffiti documentarian Henry Chalfant, breakdancer Crazy Legs of Rock Steady Crew, police officers, art critics, subway maintenance workers, and several "people on the street".

Background

Henry Chalfant, co-producer of the film, had been taking photos of graffiti in New York City for several years. Director Tony Silver was interested in what Chalfant was doing with his photography and realised that it was a major part of New York history, and turned to Chalfant to help with the film.

Shooting for the film commenced in the spring of 1981, with the first scene being the b-boy battle between the Rock Steady Crew and the Dynamic Rockers. After a few more scenes were shot, the creators of the film ran into financial troubles and shooting was stopped. When the funds were raised, the rest of the film was shot in three weeks in August 1982.

Featured graffiti artists

• Butch
• Cap
• Ces 157
• Cey
• Crash
• D-5
• Daze
• Demon
• Dez
• Dondi
• Duro
• Dust
• Fred
• Futura
• Iz the Wiz
• Kase2
• Kid 167
• Li'l Seen
• Mare 139
• Min
• Paze
• Quik
• Revolt
• Sach
• SE3
• Seen
• Shy 147
• Skeme
• Spank
• Trap
• Wasp I
• Zephyr
• Zone

Featured b-boys

• Crazy Legs
• Frosty Freeze

Featured songs

• "8th Wonder" by The Sugarhill Gang
• "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
• "Beat Bop" by Rammellzee and K.Rob
• "Pump Me Up" by Trouble Funk
• "Rockin' It" by Fearless Four
• "Jam Hot" by Johnny Dynell
• "Feel the Heartbeat" by Treacherous Three