Cease & Desist
a.k.a. Ari can't talk about it

Directed by John Carluccio

* World Premiere *

20 min - 2009 - USA - English - Color

WARNING: This film doesn't exist?

Branding, addiction, sneaker culture and legal infringement are explored when artist/designer Ari Saal Forman mash-ups the lively Newport cigarette brand into a cool “Nike-like” sneaker.

Shot at the height of the sneaker movement in 2006 and in present day, the short film reveals how trends quickly turn and how these urban expressionists compete even harder to stand out. Sneaker collectors soon face their own (cigarette like) addictions and Ari gets a legal gag for his clever design.

Abraham Obama
Directed by Kevin Chapados

55 min - 2009 - USA - English - Color

After contemporary pop/street artist Ron English creates an iconic image of Abraham Lincoln’s faced merged with Barack Obama’s,
he takes to the streets to paste it up illegally all over Boston.

The national attention it generates inspires English to gather a crew of artists and musicians to travel across America, plastering the image wherever they can find an open wall. In the spirit of Hunter S. Thompson and the Merry Pranksters, English and crew take us on an unforgettable trip through America’s underground.

Along the way they meet up with counterculture heroes like Shepard Fairey, Morgan Spurlock and David Choe and spread their subversive propaganda to America’s heartland on a grassroots campaign to get Obama elected.