Directed by Tewe Pannier from GTV Film Production, 'Art in the City' will be screened on December 8 as part of DIFF.
When 16 artists from around the world descended on Dubai to create art on walls, Meraas the property developer and Dubai-based production house, GTV Film Production, decided to tell their story.
The 52-minute, feature length documentary Art in the City will have a world premiere on The Beach at JBR, on Friday, December 8 as part of the 14th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) 2017.
The film follows the street artists as they create one-off masterpieces transforming City Walk, a development in the Jumeirah area of Dubai, in to an open-air museum of street art.
Directed by Tewe Pannier and produced by Fritzi Hirschmann, both from Dubai-based GTV Film Production, Art in the City captures the unscripted, behind-the-scenes action with candid voice-overs by the artists as they choose their medium and canvas and worked towards creating the final artwork.
Commenting on the logistics of the shoot, Pannier stated: We deployed a crew of around 12 persons with Harvey Glenn as DOP. Overall we shot for 16 days in Dubai and one day in San Francisco. With large walls as canvases, our DOP spent a good amount of time shooting on a crane.
The striking visuals shift from colourful palms and fire hydrants covered with knitting by artist Magda Sayeg, the founder of the global yarn bombing movement, to the signature black rodent of Blek le Rat, known as the master of stencil art. Polish duo Etam Cru spent several days on a crane in the hot sun to create their six-storey high painting of a little girl, which is possibly the largest mural in the Middle East.
Art in the City, the documentary alternates seamlessly between the artist, the artwork and the creative process.
Commenting on the approach to story-telling, Pannier stated: We attempted to capture the passion driving these world renowned artists through this documentary and that makes the content both unique and engaging. We are excited to have the world premiere on a prestigious platform such as the Dubai International Film Festival.
From producing a documentary on the launch of Burj Khalifa, to capturing the excitement of the opening of the Dubai Parks and Resorts facilities, Dubai-based GTV has had more than 13 years experience shooting corporate films, documentaries, TV programmes and social media videos.
Over the years we have created documentaries and short films around iconic developments in the region. With Art in the City, we hope to create a new milestone by showing a new Dubai beyond the theme of mega structures, Pannier explained.
With Australian-based Looking Glass International marketing Art in the City for exclusive global TV distribution, the documentary will also be one of the first properties to be marketed by GTVs London-based office.
The 14th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival will take place from December 6-13, 2017.
