Since 2010, Faythe Levine and Sam Macon’s project has been to document the work of artists who have put brush and paint to storefronts, murals, banners, barn signs, billboards, and even street signs across America, but who have seen their skilled trade “overrun by the techno-fueled promise of quicker and cheaper,” say the filmmakers.
“The resulting proliferation of computer-designed, die-cut vinyl lettering and inkjet printers has ushered a creeping sameness into our landscape,” they continue. “Fortunately, there is a growing trend to seek out traditional sign painters and a renaissance in the trade.”
Sign Painters is, say Levine and Macon, the first anecdotal history of the craft and features interview with two dozen sign painters working throughout the US, from the new vanguard working solo to the collaborative shops New Bohemia Signs in San Francisco and Colossal Media’s Sky High Murals in New York.
“Sign Painters,” which has been put together with equal parts affection and skill by directors Faythe Levine and Sam Macon, is fresh and passionate and unexpected.
-Mark Feeney, Boston Globe
“The documentary accomplishes what many films that consist of mostly talking heads do not. Through the individual stories, a larger narrative surfaces about this art form and its fate over time. In many ways, it is more than that. It is a cautionary tale about the head-long rush into a technology-driven time and a meditation on what’s lost along the way. It is a reminder to look around and recognize the physical history in our presence every day.”
-Mary Louise Schumacher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
SIGNPAINTERSMOVIE : A documentary movie from the USA about sign writing.
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