While trawling for info on the documentary Singapore GaGa, I tripped over 18?, a great half hour documentary on the appearance of the eponymous enigmatic graffiti in Malaysia. It’s shot as a series of vox pops with a handicam, tightly edited to demonstrate to the viewer the potently subversive impact of graffiti in a country where democracy and freedom of speech are still deeply contentious. Malaysia still enforces army conscription, which unsurprisingly is unpopular with many teenagers – and brought up in a culture where even questioning the status quo is frowned upon, 18? deftly shows the expressive, political side of graffiti art. 18? recently got an outing at the Singapore International Film Festival Fringe. There’s some preview images of 18? and the full video for free download here. You’ll need DivX installed to be able to play it.
More on 18? Malaysian Graffiti:
Spike | Google | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Wikipedia
