Exit Through the Gift Shop

Exit Through the Gift Shop A Banksy Film is a film by street artist Banksy that tells the story of Thierry Guetta, a French immigrant in Los Angeles, and his obsession with street art. The film charts Guettas constant documenting of his every waking moment on film, from a chance encounter with his cousin, the artist Invader, to his introduction to a host of street artists with a focus on Shepard Fairey and Banksy, whose anonymity is preserved by obscuring his face and altering his voice, to Guettas eventual fame as a street artist himself. The film premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival onJanuary 2010. It is narrated by Rhys Ifans. The music is by Geoff Barrow. It includes Richard Hawleys Tonight The Streets Are Ours. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Thierry Guetta is a French immigrant living in Los Angeles, making a comfortable living with his vintage clothing shop. He also has a strange obsession with carrying a camera everywhere he goes, constantly filming his surroundings. On a holiday in France, he discovers his cousin is Invader, an internationally known street artist. Thierry finds this fascinating, and accompanies Invader and his friends, including the artists Monsieur Andr and Zevs on their nocturnal adventures, documenting their activities. A few months later, Invader visits Thierry in LA, and arranges a meeting with Shepard Fairey. Thierry continues filming Faireys activities even after Invader has returned home to France. While Fairey is confused by Thierrys enthusiasm, Thierry states that he wishes to make a complete documentary about street art, and the two cross the nation, shooting other artists at work, including Poster Boy, Seizer, Neck Face, Sweet Toof, Cyclops, Ron English, Dotmasters, Swoon, Azil, Borf and Buffmonster. What Guetta fails to tell Fairey is that he has no plan to compile his footage into an actual film, and indeed never looks at his footage.Guetta continues to hear more about Banksy a prominent and particularly secretive artist. His attempts to contact Banksy meet with failure, until one day Banksy visits LA without his usual accomplice, who is refused entry to the US. Stuck in LA without a guide, Banksy contacts Fairey, who calls Guetta. Guetta becomes Banksys guide in LA, later following him back to England, winning the privilege to film Banksy on his home turf a feat that confuses Banksys crew. Banksy, however, sees the opportunity to document street art, which he recognizes as having a short life span, and after Guetta aids him in recording both production, deployment and crowd reactions to his Murdered Phonebox piece, asks him to film the preparations for his Barely Legal show. The two become friends, as Guetta provides Banksy with some relief from his anonymity. Retur

Source: Wikipedia