Graffiti Limbo
"Graffiti Limbo" is a one hour documentary that offers a unique insight into what may be the ultimate expression of public art. Graffiti is a vibrant combination of art and urban dissent that emerged from the streets. "Graffiti Limbo" looks at the street origins of graffiti art, where illegal tagging, bombing, and throw ups are a part of its subversive essence. The documentary illustrates the tension among those writers who seek a legitimate outlet for their art form and those who would arrest all writers as gang-inspired vandals. It is set against the back drop of "Paint Louis", one of the largest international graffiti festivals. Graffiti writers from throughout the world gather in St. Louis, Missouri, to take advantage of one of the few legitimate forums in which they express their art. During the three-day annual festival the city’s two-mile-long flood wall becomes a canvas for some of the world’s premier artists and crews.
This documentary is distributed by TVF International and has aired on Discovery's "Civilization", screened at Cinema St. Louis's Summer Showcase, and has been broadcast in Australia, New Zealand, Israel and elsewhere.
Rodeo Junkies
"You can buy the hat. You gotta earn the buckle"
"Rodeo Junkies" is a one hour documentary that looks at the life of the modern rodeo cowboy. Throughout the summer and through the Circuit Finals in November, the program follows these cowboys from town to town experiencing the travel, the injuries, the successes and failures in what is more a way of life than a sport.
"Rodeo Junkies" follows the season of bareback rider Billy Griffin, bull rider Craig Hostetler and their competitors as they chase their dreams in their rookie year. The program goes behind the chutes and showcases the skills and the dangers faced by cowboys competing in rough stock and timed events. In interviews with cowboys in rodeos from Ashland, Missouri to Fort Madison, Iowa and several stops along the way, the program reveals what it means to be a rodeo cowboy.
This project is completed.
Smith Hardware
"SMITH HARDWARE: HELP IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER"
"SMITH HARDWARE" is a half hour documentary that looks at the family behind the rapidly disappearing family business. The program tells the history of Smith Hardware, a seventy year old neighborhood business that literally held a small community together. The story is told through the touching and humorous tales of the customers who came there for years.
Richard Smith draws on his rich memories of the store opened by his father and that he helped run for forty four years. Through the store front window he witnessed the depression, three wars, the civil rights movement and dramatic changes in the community. The program addresses the economic pressure that ‘warehouse’ stores put on family run businesses. It looks at what the community stands to lose when service oriented, family business close.
This program aired on the St. Louis PBS affiliate. All rights available.
More Than A Game
In 1950, the United States men's soccer team entered World Cup competiion unranked and undermanned compared to their European and South American competition. The U.S. team was made up of an all star group of club team players that was hastily chosen and had never played together as a team. These were the sons of immigrants and World War II veterans who learned the game in ethnic neighborhoods in cities such as Philadelphia, St. Louis and Fall Rivers, Massachusetts.
The English team was considered the "Kings of Soccer". They were such a strong team that they had sat out previous World Cup compettiion believing it not competitive enough. The 1950 English team was not only favored to win the Cup but it featured some of the greatest players in soccer history. The English played the U.S. team in Belo Horizante, Brazil in June of 1950. The U.S. team pulled off one of the greatest upsets in sports history when it defeated England, 1-0 in a first round game. St. Louisian Frank Borghi was a standout in goal for the U.S. team, leading the way to the shoutout. Hatian native Joe Gaetjeans goal on a redirected shot from Walter Bahr was one for the ages. The U.S. played a stifling defense and managed to survive a withering English attack. The U.S. win wa such a shock that the New York Times first believed it was a mistake and reported that England had won 10-0. By the time the paper had corrected it's story, communists overran the 49th parallel in Korea and the U.S. was at war. This stunning upset was soon forgotten.
This story retells the story of the players and the game that was as fine as any game ever played. The story is told through archival photographs and interviews with the five surviving members of the U.S. team, Walter Bahr, Frank Borghi, Gino Pariani and Harry Keough.
This documentary aired on HEC tv and screened at the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase in addition to being distributed throughout the U.S. and Canada. All rights available.
Wolves and Man
The rugged, isolated forests and grasslands of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico were once home to the Mexican gray wolf, the rarest and most genetically distinct subspecies of the North American gray wolf. As cattle ranching, mining and logging expanded in the southwest during the early 1900s, the Mexican gray wolf faced tremendous pressure to survive. Private citizens and government agencies hunted, trapped and poisoned the Mexican gray wolf to the brink of extinction. In a bold, last chance effort to insure the Mexican gray wolf’s survival, the last remaining gray wolves living in the wild were captured by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It was their plan to begin a captive breeding program at zoos and wildlife sanctuaries throughout the United States, to reestablish their population in captivity, and to eventually reintroduce the Mexican gray wolf into the wilderness of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico.
"Wolves and Man" explores the dramatic twenty year effort to save the Mexican gray wolf from extinction and reintroduce it to its native habitat in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The program examines the struggle between wildlife biologists and environmentalists working to reestablish the Mexican gray wolf within its historic range and those who can find no room for the wolf in the modern southwest.
Broadcast and theatrical rights are available. The University of California, Berkeley is the educational distributor for the program which was screened at the Angelciti Film Festival in Los Angeles, the Green Reel Environmental Festival and aired on the Higher Education Channel.
Kick
A short film that tells three interwoven stories of abuse, recovery and relapse. This narrative project is told in a style that mixes narrative and documentary genres. The program screened at the St. Louis Filmmaker's Showcase and at the Arrowhead Film Festival where it was nominated for best short.
Playback St. Louis magazine recently heaped more praise on "Kick" saying that among the works shown at the St. Louis Filmmakers' Showcase, "the best of the lot [was] Brent Jaimes’ “Kick". Playback said it represented his "best work" and "highlighted the style and skills the filmmaker brings to his work". In July, Cinema St. Louis held its annual Filmmaker's Showcase, presenting noteworthy features, shorts and documentaries from St. Louis filmmakers and beyond. Two Storyville projects were selected to be screened. "KICK", is a semi experimental story that Diane Carson of the Riverfront Times calls "among the best". "The mockumentary borrows from real life stories of abuse, recovery and relapse to illuminate individuals at war with their own addictive impulses, the toughest fight of all."
Copyright (c) 2005 My Storyville Pictures LLC. All rights reserved.