A German film distributor called Störkanal will soon release a special edition German DVD of WEAPONS. I have been sent a list questions to answer for the booklet. Instead of posting all the answers here at once I will answer a single one each day.

Question #10

When I take a look on your Filmography I see that you like to deal with some subcultures, like the graffiti scene in your first movie BOMB THE SYSTEM, the ghetto youth in WEAPONS, the reggae music scene in THE UPSETTER and the hip hop scene in your documentary about Lil Wayne in THE CARTER. How comes that you like to deal with all kind of subcultures?

Subcultures are of interest because they are like little worlds with specific rules and codes. They have their own celebrities and superstars who may or may not be known by the general public but it doesn’t matter – they are stars in the eyes of the subculture. They have their own drugs, their own vernacular, style of dress, etc. It’s fascinating to investigate these worlds and discover. But on the negative side it’s always a fine line when you embark on a project about a subculture. If you simply provide a broad overview of a subculture those people within the subculture sometimes resent you and feel that you offended them or didn’t do their subculture justice. But if you go in too deep, get too detailed and narrow-focused people outside the subculture – the casual observer – wont watch it or even hear about it. So you cant please everybody.

The subculture films I feel are most successful are neither broad overviews (though I do sometimes enjoy watching those) or of the opposite concern, they are more like slices of life, real characters within the subculture just living life and doing their thing. WILDSTYLE is a good example of this. With WILDSTYLE the director’s way in was with the outsider – the reporter character who was investigating the subculture. She was a stand-in for the director basically. That’s the classic method, that’s the blueprint right there.

So there are pros and cons with subculture films but ultimately it’s a great world to work in and I feel blessed to have been involved with the graffiti scene and the Reggae world even if only for a brief moment in my life.

Some last words for the German buyers of WEAPONS?

Thank you for watching WEAPONS.