Rab’s World

Tony Silver a director who became famous for a cult film documentary called ‘Style Wars‘ has passed away yesterday of cancer of the brain. He was ill for many years. Silver, who directed and co-produced Style Wars with Henry Chalfant, died of cancer at the age of 72 at his home in Los Angeles on February 1. Style Wars originally aired on PBS in 1983 and captured New York City’s emerging graffiti scene and the emerging culture of Hip-Hop. I remember getting home early from school and work and NOT going to my girlfriend’s house. I watched it with my brother on channel 13 PBS in New York City. The film has won several awards, including the Grand Prize for Documentaries at Sundance. In addition to Style Wars, Silver directed several other award winning documentary films and movie trailers, ranging from the health care industry, to the trailer for Oliver Stone’s ‘Platoon‘, which earned him a Clio Award. Silver’s most recent documentary Marshall Arisman: Facing the Audience won the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s prize for Creative and Artistic Achievement. Style Wars, which showcased graffiti artists like Kase 2, Zephyr, Dondi, Seen, Futura and numerous others, was re-released on a 5-DVD set in 2003 and again in 2005.

* WATCH TONY SILVER Interview *

The DVD release includes commentaries and interviews from both Silver and Chalfant, as well as 23-minutes of unreleased footage.

You can buy it here at Amazon.com

Purchase Style Wars