Henry Chalfant Movies
- 2006
This documentary offers an examination of how the racial make-up of the South Bronx helped create the birthplace of Salsa, a musical style that fused elements of Cuban and Puerto Rican culture, as well as the place where hip-hop was created. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1993
From the late 1960s into the 1970s, Rita Fecher taught in the South Bronx, a community then riddled with street gangs and violent crime. Rather than shy away from the young gangsters, Fecher got involved, introducing herself to the gang leaders and their members, ultimately documenting their lives in a series of highly candid interviews. Flyin' Cut Sleeves sees Fecher return to the community 20 years later to visit with some of her previous subjects, inviting them to revisit their experiences, and to reveal the life choices they made in the intervening decades. ~ Carly Wray, All Movie Guide
Calisthenic breakdancing and big, bold graffiti art were in top form and popularity in the U.S. in the early and mid-'80s, and this documentary extols the spirit and the talents of a variety of New York youngsters who were expert in either one or both of these challenging pastimes. Public reactions are wildly varied. On the one hand, the youth brave a police crackdown on graffiti and face barbed-wire fences and guard dogs in the railroad yards where they spray paint subway cars with oversized lettering. On the other hand, their art is shown in a municipal gallery and analyzed with the same seriousness as a Rembrandt or a Renoir. Whether viewers judge the graffiti an "eyesore" or a bit of post-modern expressionism, it is true that both the art and the dancing are incisively presented in this hour-long exploration. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
