Banksy is at it again this time in the role of filmmaker. The film titled, “Exit Through The Gift Shop” or “The Worlds First Street Disaster Film” had it’s premiere at a pop up cinema in Waterloo tonight in a disused railway arch. The festivities came complete with a painted red carpet and salvaged arm chairs. The film tells the story of how a mad French shop keeper turned documentary maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner. Named after one of the pieces at Banksy’s exhibition at the Bristol Museum last summer,which drew an astounding 350,000 people through the doors in nine weeks. The film will be released from March 5 in British cinemas and is narrated by Welsh actor Rhys Ifans. Banksy has described the film as “the story of how one man set out to film the un-filmable. And failed”, but for John Cooper – director of the Festival say, “it is an unqualified success”. The quazi- doc will contain footage of Banksy, Shephard Fairey, Invader and many of the world’s most infamous graffiti artists at work, on walls and in interview. The film is slated for bigger and better venues and went down a storm at The Sundance Film Festival this year. Banksy is clandestine and never officially photographed. He has decorated spaces from the West Bank to New York, all while keeping his identity a mystery. He has also avoided prosecution. It remains an open question as to whether the artist will appear at the festival, and in what guise.
