Exit Through The Gift Shop | |
---|---|
Directed by | Banksy |
Produced by |
Holly Cushing Jaimie D'Cruz James Gay-Rees |
Starring |
Thierry Guetta Banksy Shepard Fairey Invader André |
Narrated by | Rhys Ifans |
Music by | Geoff Barrow |
Edited by |
Tom Fulford Chris King |
Production
company |
Paranoid Pictures
|
Distributed by |
Revolver Entertainment (UK) Producers Distribution Agency (US) |
Release date
|
|
Running time
|
87 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language |
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Box office | $5,308,618 |
Exit Through the Gift Shop: A Banksy Film is a 2010 British documentary film, directed by street artist Banksy. It tells the story of Thierry Guetta, a French immigrant in Los Angeles, and his obsession with street art. The film charts Guetta's constant documenting of his every waking moment on film, from a chance encounter with his cousin, the artist Invader, to his introduction to a host of street artists with a focus on Shepard Fairey and Banksy, whose anonymity is preserved by obscuring his face and altering his voice, to Guetta's eventual fame as a street artist himself. It is narrated by Rhys Ifans. The music is by Geoff Barrow. It includes Richard Hawley's "Tonight The Streets Are Ours".
The film premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival on 24 January 2010, and it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Since its release, there has been extensive debate over whether the documentary is genuine or a mockumentary, although Banksy answered "Yes" when asked if the film is real.
Thierry Guetta is a French immigrant living in Los Angeles who runs a vintage clothing shop. He also has an obsession with carrying a camera everywhere and constantly filming his surroundings. On a holiday in France, he discovers his cousin is Invader, an internationally known street artist. Thierry finds this fascinating, and accompanies Invader and his friends, including the artists Monsieur André and Zevs on their nocturnal adventures, documenting their activities. A few months later, Invader visits Thierry in LA, and arranges a meeting with Shepard Fairey. Thierry continues filming Fairey's activities even after Invader has returned home to France. While Fairey is confused by Thierry's enthusiasm, Thierry states that he wishes to make a complete documentary about street art, and the two cross the nation, filming other artists at work, including Poster Boy, Seizer, Neck Face, Sweet Toof, Cyclops, Ron English, Dotmasters, Swoon, Azil, Borf and Buffmonster. What Guetta fails to tell Fairey is that he has no plan to compile his footage into an actual film, and never looks at his footage.