Writer/Director (and L.A. Taco contributor) Patrick Green shares the full version of his short film, TAG, streaming today on VIMEO. The first-person short is told from the perspective of a young graffiti artist and was filmed in Boyle Heights, Downtown Los Angeles, and on our city's metro trains. Watch from the protagonist's point of view as they make choices which will impact the direction of their day, for better or for worse. For fans of graffiti, Run Lola Run, or the city of Los Angeles, TAG is a very fun 5 minutes of your day. The film premiered at the 35th Annual CAAMfest in San Francisco and went onto play at festivals in Los Angeles, Miami, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Canada, France, Spain and more cities. Plus, it stars a Power Ranger... Stream it above and check out Patrick's statement about his film below...
Director's Statement
Every artist has that moment when they find their voice. It's at that instant when you realize that "today" is the first day of the rest of your life. Nothing and no one will stop you from expressing yourself. Graffiti taggers, street artists, urban contemporary artists, whatever you want to call them, want to be heard and if no one is going to listen, they're going to make you see. Tag is a passion project that I've had in my mind for a couple years after coming across a tagger signing their name to a wall in my neighborhood. The anonymous figure was small, wearing a red hoodie and new sneakers. That image stuck in my head as I passed the tag in the morning, and I began to think about a person who would risk their lives to sign their tag name (not a gang sign) in a public space. I wanted to tell that story using a character that defies the stereotypical tagger that's portrayed in the media. Although street art is now a big part of pop culture, it began as an underground act that gave a voice to the voiceless. As an Asian American artist myself who has struggled to be heard, I wanted the audience to see what we had to say, our point of view through a graffiti artist's eyes, which is why we literally shot it in POV. Enjoy!
