DIED YOUNG, STAYED PRETTY

Support DIY filmmaking and make your way to the IFC center this coming Friday when DIED YOUNG, STAYED PRETTY opens for a one week run.

Official Selection of the 2009 South By Southwest Film Festival and 2008 Montreal World Film Festival, DIED YOUNG, STAYED PRETTY is a candid look at the underground indie-rock poster subculture in North America that was reborn, post-Punk, with the launch of groupie Clayton Hayes’ website Gigposters.com. The documentary reveals a new breed of subculturists who’ve set out to destroy the mainstream through their controversial and intensely visceral design work.

Under the guise of advertising for rock shows, these unheralded masters of the silkscreen and Xerox machine carry on public discourses that range from hot button political issues to lewd, inside jokes. Stealing pieces from America’s disposable culture, these graphic artists pervert classic references into beautiful obscenities that they slap in the face of polite society while safely treading under the radar.

Director Eileen Yaghoobian gives an intimate look at a few of the giants of the subculture, some who go broke to maintain their creative workshops while others have found commercial success. Featuring interviews with Tom Hazelmyer, Art Chantry, Brian Chippendale, the Ames Brothers, Jeff Kleinsmith, Jay Ryan, Print Mafia, and Rob Jones, among others, outside their own circle, they are virtually unknown, but within their ranks they are bareknuckle brawlers. Yaghoobian sneaks her lens into the lives of these self-professed radicals to discover where the real power lies, if any remains.