All language subtitles for Paper.Glue.2021.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC5.1-[YTS.MX].eng

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[footsteps tapping]

[footsteps tapping]

- [exhales heavily]

I love when I start a day

and I really don't know
where it's gonna take me.

[soft vocal music]

Waking up every day
in a different country,

creating projects...

Never really looking back,
just being in the action.

Action, action, action.

Maybe that's why I've always
been documenting it...

To keep a trace of it.

The excuse of the art
is the greatest path ever.

[bricks crashing]

I'm actually kind of shy

and can be afraid
to talk to people.

But when I do a project,
I have to explain,

"I come here by myself,
with my own money,

"to try to do this project
here with you,

in your community,
if it makes sense to you."

And then, of course,
some people ask,

"Yeah, but what is this
going to achieve?"

I always say,
"I don't know. Let's see."

It's almost like if we do
a pact of the unknown:

"Okay, we're gonna do this,

but I have no idea
where it's gonna take us."

- And your ID right here
one more time.

- Thank you.

[indistinct chatter]

[clears throat]

[indistinct chatter]

[buzzer blares]

[indistinct chatter]

So here I am, supermax prison,

to meet some inmates
that have been incarcerated

when they were teenagers,

mainly because
of the three-strike law.

This is level four,
maximum security level four,

and so a lot
of the most violent.

Damn.
What, someone got stabbed?

- Yeah, they wanted to try
to clean it up

before you guys got here,
but they didn't do it.

- That was when?

- That was two days ago,
apparently.

- Wow.

- Hey.
- Hello, hello.

Hey. How are you?
- Welcome.

I'm JR.

Hey, how are you?
- Hey, what's up?

I come from France.

I'll try to remember
every name, guys,

but, like,
you gotta give me a minute.

How are you?
JR.

[clears throat]

Well, thank you for having me.

What we're about to do here is,
I take photos of you guys

and also photos of people
who made it out

and also families of people
who have forgiven,

people who have connected
with some people in here,

and so--to try to connect
all the dots

to show how everyone
is interlinked together.

We're not here
to judge anything.

We're here to listen
to the story

and to portray you the way
you want to be portrayed.

But my feeling, just from being
from the outside--

that's why I really need
to hear it from you--

is that this is kind of
how it feel here.

Like, being between walls,

it feels like almost everyone

is, like, dropped
in the same hole.

And I want to make that
as a visual

so that when people see,
they understand it.

Well, I'd love to hear from you
what you think,

if you have
any questions for me.

What--you know, how can I,

you know, help make things
clearer?

What--you know, any questions,
basically, I'm open.

- What it is that you're trying
to--like,

what is it that you're trying
to accomplish with this?

That's my question.

- The thing is,
I didn't even know

that someone can be locked up
when he was a kid for life.

In my country,
I never heard that.

Maybe in the U.S., people know.

But people tend to forget.

By not seeing each other,
by not--

then you tend to forget.

Everybody goes
into their own thing,

and then you get forgotten.

But when you see and you put
a face and a story to someone,

then you're like--well,
you can't forget it anymore.

Look, I don't make
fake promises.

I'm not a politician, you know.

I'm always very careful
with my words.

But I'll give you an example.

It's interesting
when you work on walls,

people are always coming to me,
"Oh, you should do this wall."

Well, there's a wall
that I keep hearing.

So one day, I say, "All right,
let's take the car."

I went with my friends.
We just drove there.

[demon's "riddim in the park"]

- How you guys doing?
- Good. How are you?

- Good. And you?

Yeah, we're just
checking out the wall.

- Yeah.
- Oh, checking out the wall?

- They just wanted to see it.

- Yeah.
- What wall?

- Oh.
[laughter]

- You guys see a wall anywhere?

- Fence.
- The fence, the fence. Sorry.

- Yeah, that's been there
for a long time.

- Yeah.
- Where you guys live?

- Oh, no, we're French.
We just--

I mean, he's American,
we're French, so we just--

- Step out.

- Yeah.
[speaking french]

- Oh, do you need me
to pull up?

- Yeah.

- Hi.
- How's it going?

- Good. How are you?

- Pretty good.
Where you guys heading?

- Just gonna take some pictures
of the wall.

- Yeah.
- The wall?

- Or the fence. Whatever. Yeah.
- Fence.

Okay. Have a good time.
- Okay.

- Thank you.
- Thanks.

[somber music]

- I wanted to find a place

where I could do
an installation

that would play with the wall
but not touch the wall.

I found a place where we can
drive in front of the wall.

But on the U.S. side,

Border Patrol is everywhere,
helicopters flying.

I'm like,
"Okay, this doesn't look

like an easy place
to do something."

And then I look
on the other side,

and I see some houses
close by the wall,

actually not that far.

So we go past the border.

And then I go to the closest
house from the wall,

because I'm like,
"Oh, maybe I could

paste something
on that house."

And I knock at that door.

Well, there was this woman
and two old people,

little baby
and two chickens and a dog.

And she looked at me,
and she's like,

"Oh, I follow you
on social media."

That's insane--the first door
I bang, you know?

That's really weird.

So I'm like, "All right, look,
you know me.

I do this kind of stuff."

So she takes me to that spot

that's the closest
from the fence.

But it's trees and stuff,
so I'm like, "Ah, okay,

"I see it's a bit complicated
for me to do it there.

"So look, thank you.

Let me continue
driving alongside the wall."

I kept on going
all the way to the ocean.

I'm like, "Shit.

"That kid,
he don't know what a fence is.

"He don't know
that there is two countries,

"that there is two sides.

He don't know
what that wall means."

So I go back,
and all I did

is photograph him
standing in the crib,

looking around him like that.

And then I left.

And we look around,
down the little hill

that go up to the wall.

There's nothing.

It's just grass and garbage
here and there.

So I'm like, "Okay,
whose land is this?

So I ask every neighbor:
"Hey, excuse me, sir.

You know whose land is that?"
"You know, I don't know.

I don't want to have
anything to do with it."

"All right, that's all
I need to hear."

I go to the next neighbor:

"Hey, man, do you know
whose land is this?"

Some people wouldn't even
open the door.

Like, "What do you want? No."

So what do you do?

My only option was,
let's rent a bulldozer.

[laughter]

Anyone can rent a bulldozer.

They'll deliver it
to whatever address.

So I started
digging the ground.

And I was like, "All right,
what are the risks for me,

"as a French person in Mexico,

digging a ground next to--
next to the border?"

Well, I'm not digging
a hole under it.

I'm just, like, flattening it.

So maybe the Mexicans
will come first and say,

"Hey, man, you can't
do that here.

Are you crazy?"

And I would be,
"Oh, I'm so sorry."

And we start one day, two days,
three days--for, like, 15 days.

No one says anything,
and we level the ground.

I couldn't believe it.
I was like, "What the fuck?

Who is in charge here?"

So then I go to a place
to rent scaffolding.

[indistinct chatter]

"All right, if you pay,
we'll build it.

You know,
we don't ask questions."

[tools banging]

[all speaking spanish]

[laughter]

[laughter]

[dynamic music]

- It's bigger than the wall.

It's three times
the size of the wall.

Let's see if the Border Patrol
stop us.

I come with my team,
and we paste that little kid.

There I was like, "Okay,

"maybe that's where
I'm gonna lose everything,

"because Border Patrol
is gonna start saying,

"'There's something big
being built by the wall.

We should do something
about it.'"

- [speaking spanish]

- [speaking spanish]

- In one day, we pasted
the entire structure.

And I was like, "Okay,
let's get out of here."

And I passed back
on the other side

and stumbled on those two
Border Patrol

that was just looking
at the kid.

And I just put on Internet.

I say, "Hey, whoever wants
to go see that kid,

here is the location."

That's all I say.

One of the great things
that art do is,

if you build a giant kid
somewhere, people will say,

"Ah, that's a fun thing.
I'll go see that.

Let's go take a selfie
in front of it."

That's where my idea start.

I hope people go
and take photos

so they'll see the wall.

It's the same land,
but we're on each side.

And what happened is
something I haven't planned.

People exchanging their phones
through the wall

to take photos of each other,
connecting, talking:

"Hey, how are you?"

The Border Patrol should be,
"Wait, wait, wait.

"They could be passing drugs,

"or they could be
passing weapons.

Let's go arrest those people."

After three weeks,
no one got arrested.

How the fuck people
don't get arrested

for passing stuff
through the wall?

Because I know
there's guys on the hills

overlooking every second.

After one month
of seeing that,

I had to give back
the scaffolding.

We decided to go
and to organize a table

that would go through the wall.

[dramatic music]

We built a table,
36 feet on each side.

Yes, we would block the road
a little bit on the U.S. side,

'cause the table
will end up on the road.

A few days later,
we got a letter

from the Border Patrol saying
that they strongly recommend

keeping the table
on the Mexican side only.

We continued,
but we had to improvise

another way of building
the table from the U.S. side.

And then we invited
people to come

and see Kikito
for the last time.

[indistinct chatter]

People on the Mexican side
all started sitting,

and we started making food,

but there was nobody
on the other side,

'cause we couldn't
build a table.

Hello. How are you?

- We're from Germany.

- Ah, from Germany. Wow.
Amazing.

You know we're doing
a lunch thing.

- Can't go to the other side.

- As soon as people would come
to take photos, we told them,

"Hey, if you can stay
a little bit longer."

After, like, an hour
or an hour and a half,

there was maybe 20, 30 people,

and we passed them a tarp.

And then we're like,
"Okay, maybe we only have

a couple minutes,
so we let's go fast."

Table on the Mexican side
that continue on the U.S. side.

And one music band
plays in two sides.

[upbeat music playing]

Half of the band
was in Mexico,

the other half
was in the U.S.,

but it was the same band.

They were playing
the same music.

We would pass tacos
that we made in Mexico

through the wall.

We passed them illegal tacos.

So now I'm thinking,

"We're gonna get arrested
in five minutes.

"Let's just pretend
we're eating

so I can take a photo."

Everybody gather
around the table.

We're gonna take
a photo from above.

[speaking spanish]

You ready?
Cinco. Quatro.

all: Tres. Dos. Uno.

all: Whoo!

[soft music]

- You know, from up there,
there's no wall.

We thought this would last
two minutes,

that we would put the tarp
and take a photo,

and that's it;
we have to take everything up.

And 5 minute passed,
10 minute passed,

15, 20, 30,
one hour, we're still eating.

It was just a nice lunch
with music.

And for a moment, we really
forgot there was a wall.

This is the eye of a woman
who's a Dreamer.

Dreamer is someone who had
come to the United States

when she was very little

with her parents
but illegally.

Her name is Mayra.

I told her not to come,
'cause they say

there's a big chance
we'll get arrested.

But not only she came;
she came with her mother.

- With DACA ending,
I have very few months left

being able to be this brave
and come to the border.

- It's only an hour
and a half later,

then the Border Patrol came.

Everybody got scared.

I told them, "All right,
send him over to me."

I was on the safe side.
I was in Mexico anyway.

I was not even trying
to justify myself.

I said, "Look," you know.
And he said, "I know. I know."

Turns out, they were
watching us the whole time

but had decided
to let it happen.

Thank you.
Can you share tea with me?

- Sure.

- Salud. Thank you.

- Thank you.

- A Chinese tea
at the Mexican border.

How's that?
[laughter]

He went and talked with Mayra.

When she came that morning,

we never thought she would be
talking with an officer.

And he told her that he also
had family on the other side.

And they were talking.

That made me realize that art
can go places beyond laws,

beyond rules, beyond borders.

Maybe because art is not
part of any organization.

It's not part of the state.

It's something that we own--
we, the people, own.

And that's why it goes so far.

- That little kid say,
"Hey, I'm here!

I'm exist!"
[laughter]

"I'm not terrorist!"

- A future, a better future,

that's what it means for me.

[flashbulb popping]
- Yeah.

Nice, and now looking down
in front of you.

Yeah, perfect.

I like when you hold it there.

Nice.

- You certainly, as a kid,
don't think of this,

that you're gonna do life
in prison, as a kid,

doing the things
that you've done.

You know, there's a lot
of fences and walls in here

to keep us in,
but it does more than that.

It destroys who we are,
destroys our families.

- You were a, what,
graffiti artist before?

- Yeah. Yeah.

- That's funny,
'cause I kind of started off,

you know, kind of into
that little lifestyle.

- Oh, yeah?

- The only difference is that
my transition kind of ending up

going a different,
you know, way after.

- 14 years,
you had no human contact.

- No, just when
they cuff you up...

- Yeah.
- And they take you out.

That's it.

[somber music]

- Still can't really
believe those--

those human cages.

Insane.

Well, here the bird gets free
in the human cages.

We hope that this image
will get around the world.

People will see.
- Definitely.

- And then they'll be like,
"Okay, who is that person?"

And actually,
when you take the image

and you put your hand
on any person,

you can hear their story
right away.

- Wow, that's awesome.

- We're putting, like,
an app for this

or something that you can
click on, you know,

and then you hear
the stories of the people.

- My name's Kevin.
I was a gang member.

I put my whole life and focus

into what I was doing
at the moment.

Really, I was just trying
to, like,

people-please other people.

I knew that this wasn't
what I wanted,

but I was scared.

I'm not the person
that you see.

How do you say
that you're a loving person

with this on my face,
you know?

And I was trying to explain,
like, what it was.

I mean, it was a prison thing,
and it's not really, like,

how, like, I perceive
other people, you know?

- Yeah.

- And it made me
feel really ashamed.

- Yeah. Yeah, like that.
That's great.

- I'm not just a monster
that society sees me as.

I'm a person.
I'm a man. I'm a human.

- Hello, outside world.
My name's Richard.

- My name is Nicholas.

- My name is Raul Cios.
- My name is Frankie Vasquez.

- My name
is Francisco Olivares.

- My name's Yang.
- My name's Chris.

- My name is Carlton Fields.
- My name's Alejandro Serrano.

- My name is Alex.

[soft music]

- The biggest mountains
and walls we have to pass

are within ourselves.

They're not in front of us.

When I see a guy
with swastika on his face,

of course that's, like,
a instant wall and fear.

But when Kevin,
the guy with the swastika,

walked up for me
to photograph him,

I was like, "Wow,
if I don't ask him now,

"when in my life I would have
the opportunity to ask,

"'Hey, man, can I ask you
what the fuck is this?'

You know?"

Of course I have fear.

Also have boundaries.

My work every day
push me to fight them.

- Come around. Come around
this side and paint your face.

Go, go, go, go, go.

- All right, guys,
let's keep the rhythm.

- I need some glue here.

- In between lines,
that's the most important,

'cause that's where the wind
will get it and fuck it up.

- Yeah.

- Oh, you see
the first eye and ear.

- What's going on?
- Look at that.

- That's his eye.
He says that's his.

- That's yours? Yes.
First one up.

[indistinct chatter]

- If you see anything weird
in here, just...

[indistinct chatter]

- Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Go all the way, all the way,
all the way.

- Right here? Right here?
- Yeah.

- Are you in there?
- Yeah, right here.

- That's right, you?
Oh, my God.

- Right here.
- [laughs]

Cassie, what are you doing?

Yeah?
She got the dream team.

Come on, come on, come on.

Keep the rhythm, guys.

Every line, every line.

How is it doing here?

No line, no line, no line.
Where's the crack?

- Running low on glue.

- Get cracking, boys.

- Those cracks, those cracks.

Every detail like that
adds something, actually.

You know, people think
it's done on the computer.

Bringing you some extras.
[laughs]

- Just make sure that that glue
is just right flat, Captain.

- Out of everything, I never
thought I would see this.

- Teamwork, dream work.

- Oh, come on, I got wind.
I got wind. Come on.

Oh, come on.

[indistinct chatter]

- Let's go!

- That's the way.
That's the way.

The guys cleaned
the yard yesterday.

They say they cleaned
the blood.

They cleaned the tear gas.
- Yeah.

- It's hard to imagine
there's violence

every day on this yard.

- Yeah.

- How many guys you saw
being stabbed here?

- It's 11 years' worth.

You know, I was raised here.

I never really imagined
that one day, you could get out

and do something that you're
never even gonna believe.

And the more we think
like that,

the more we're gonna be able
to obtain those dreams.

You know,
people want to be this big

from way up there.

Know what I mean?
We could see it.

We want to be that big
from way up there.

And it doesn't take much.

Just a little hope,
a little effort, and we got it.

- And some paper.
- And some paper.

[laughter]

- That's the crew right there.

[laughs]

Pizza time. Pizza.
- Pizza time.

- So I'm back in here.

Oh, my God,
look at these shadows.

Let's turn this way.
With Kevin.

- How's it going?
- Good. And you?

- Good.

- I put the portrait
I took of you, you know,

and--on social media,

and people were like, "Oh."

They were really--
I think people

were touched by your photo

because of the depth
in your eyes

and what you share

and conflicted because of...
- Yeah.

- Your tattoo on your cheek.

- Right, I understand
that the symbols I wear

represent hate to many people,

and so people
are automatically gonna have

a conflict with that.

When we come in here,

we're forced to fight
for our lives...

- Yeah.
- Against other races.

I know it causes a lot of hurt
in other people's hearts.

And I know
that if I could right now,

I would remove it,
you know what I mean, and--

- So if I find someone
who help remove it...

- Let's do it.
- Let's do it? Okay.

- Let's do it, dude.
- So if anyone's out there,

we're looking for someone
who can help to remove this.

- Please. I need that.
- All right?

[indistinct chatter]

- Hard day's work.

- We did it.
- We did it, yeah.

- My buddy Richie over there.
Look at him smiling over there.

- Just kicking it, man.

I'm just having a good time.
- Just kicking it.

- I'm just the old guy
right here, hanging out,

having a good time,
enjoying this, soaking this in.

This is something,

in my 25 years
of being busted in CDC,

I never thought I'd ever see:

a collective group
of individuals

just come together
for one purpose.

- You water the garden at home,
you know what I mean.

- You got Mexicans working
with Blacks and whites

and everybody together,
interacting.

It's rare in--it's rare
in the prison system.

But for us to break
that mold is big.

It just shows everybody's
willing to put all the hate

and all the negativity
behind us and work together

with staff and everybody
for a common goal,

you know what I mean?

[drone buzzing]

- Oh, that's, like, a--
that's, like, a little plane.

- I thought it was,
like, a bird, though.

This is the first time we ever
seen a drone live like this.

- You see?
- Hey, check it out.

- Yeah!
- Yeah!

- Whoa!

- Aw, hell yeah.
- That was cool.

- Oh, that is so cool!

- That's incredible.

- [laughs]
I see it right there, man.

- Oh, that's so cool.

- Congrats, everybody.

[applause]

Thank you, guys.

Thank you.

- Thank you.
- Yeah, thank you, man.

[indistinct chatter]

- Yo, yo, yo, what you doing?

- I'm trying to keep my eye.
- [laughs]

- I don't want
to take it off the ground.

I want to leave it there.
I want it to stay.

But as I'm tearing it,
it felt good.

I felt, like,
something freeing, right?

The process is what matter.

I think that's what art is.
It was that process.

It wasn't just, oh,
we took a picture,

or we drew a picture,
or we sang a song.

It was--man, that whole process

of us being together
and doing something,

it's kind of beautiful
and affected me,

so I think that's art.

That's what I learned
from you artists.

- The process is what matter.

It took me years
to realize that,

and he was just realizing it
in a heartbeat.

It stayed with me,
because that reassured me

I was keeping the right part
of that whole journey.

Whew!

[exhales heavily]

What's up, what's up, everyone?

We're here in Paris,
the top of

Pshew!
Boom.

People always think graffiti
just started, but look at this.

Those are all graffiti
from 1918, 1914,

1846, 1923,

and there's tons of people
who want to exist and express

and be seen and be remembered.

I relate to that.

Growing up in the project
outside Paris,

I was only doing graffiti,

writing my names
everywhere I can,

the tunnels, on the rooftops.

[mysterious string music]

It's not that I had
to escape by the window.

My parents were sleeping on
the couch in the living room.

They would just
leave me the freedom.

As a child of immigrants,

I come from a family
that never had a voice.

I feel like
I'm leaving a mark,

because I would see.

No one else would care,
but then my friend would say,

"Oh, yeah, yeah, I saw.
You made that rooftop."

One day, I was just
at a train station in Paris

waiting for my friend,
and he was late.

And at some point,
I see the bag that was there.

After two, three train,
that bag was still there.

So I open,
and I see this camera.

I took it.

[camera shutter clicking]

And I had that idea of, like,

"I should document
those adventures."

[camera shutter clicks]

[smooth electronic music]

I was documenting everything.

I was documenting
climbing those roofs.

I was documenting
those night experiences.

And I loved it.

I would just
make photocopies of it,

and I would just give it
to the people I photograph.

Then I was like, "Ah, I have
those photocopies in hand.

"Well, you know what?

I can just paste one
on the wall."

But my photos
were really small,

so you wouldn't
really notice them.

So I started framing
those photos.

And I started noticing
that people in suit and tie

would stop
and look at them.

If people don't like it,
they can pee on it,

scratch it, take it down.

But if what you do
creates reactions

and even if people hate it,

I'm happy,
because it raise conversation.

[all speaking french]

[all speaking french]

- JR.

- When I started,
it was called vandalism.

Many times, we got arrested.

One day, I went
to the closest store,

and I just put
a hat and glasses,

and I was like, "Oh, you know,
maybe when I take them off,

no one will recognize me."

[French hip-hop music playing
over radio]

At that time, I thought
that the whole world

was just Paris
and its surrounding.

And then I met Ladj Ly,

and he took me to a place
I've never seen before.

I met Ladj through Kourtrajm ,
collective of artists

that were already making art,
making graffiti.

And I was pasting,
and Ladj was filming.

We had that kind
of similar vibe,

and we understood each other
right away.

One day, he took me
to his neighborhood.

It's a project like mine,

but I've never seen
a neighborhood like that.

It was completely abandoned.

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

[wings fluttering]

[wings fluttering]

- [speaking french]

[somber music]

- They built these buildings

where you could be in Paris
pretty quickly

but still live
in the countryside,

because the train
was going to run out there.

But the train never came.

Neither the highway.

The real estate developers
all left,

and families that had
less money came instead.

The city said, "We have
nothing to do with this."

And that's what really
drove people crazy.

We're the forgotten
of the forgotten.

- [rapping in french]

- At that time, Ladj was
shooting a short film

and asked to film me pasting.

[hip-hop music]

I was just pasting
in his neighborhood.

Someone said, "Hey, why don't
you take us in photo?"

And Ladj said, "Oh, yeah,
yeah, take a photo of me."

So boom, I take that photo.

Everybody look at it and say,
"You had a gun?"

Like, "What are you
talking about?

"You were there.
It's not a gun.

It's my camera."

"Oh, yeah, yeah,
it's your camera.

That's crazy."

We just took all day
of taking photo.

- Talkin' 'bout
the wanted brother

- Talkin' 'bout
the wanted brother

- Hey, hey, hey, hey

- Then we were there
with all those photos,

but we didn't know
what to do with it.

We looked around us, and there
was all those buildings.

"Let's cover those buildings.

Let's just do it."

- The wanted brother

[all speaking french]

[all speaking french]

- Oh-oh! Oh-oh! Oh-oh!

- We didn't want
to get arrested,

so we asked all the kids
from the neighborhood

to come and hang them
by the pasting

so that the cops
wouldn't stop us.

When the cops would come by,
there'll be, like, 100 of us,

so it's not worth
trying to stop

whatever we were doing.

[somber music]

I never pasted
an image so big.

That was the first time.

That photo, where Ladj
hold his camera like a gun,

it's a photo that will
follow us all our life.

I kept on going back there
over the years.

That's where did
all our projects.

That's where did
all our projects.

- They're destroying
the last building, the B5,

where Ladj had grew up,
to rebuild smaller buildings.

This place is, for us,
a seed of creation.

Now we're running a school
across the street from it.

[indistinct chatter]

It's not a school to, like,

teach you how to become
a good photographer

or great painter

but how to survive
as an artist.

And it's completely free.

- [speaking french]

- Surrounding yourself
with people that come

from different background,
different stories,

different paths,
that's what nourished us.

You guys should check
how it is

and, like,
see what you can take from it.

and, like,
see what you can take from it.

and, like,
see what you can take from it.

[applause]

[applause]

[applause]

[laughter]

- [speaking french]

[laughter]

- [speaking french]

[indistinct chatter]

[indistinct chatter]

[indistinct chatter]

[indistinct chatter]

[dramatic music]

[dramatic music]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

[both speaking french]

- [speaking french]

[crowd clamoring]

[crowd clamoring]

[tense music]

- [yelling in french]

[people cheering]

[people yelling]

[siren wailing]

[people yelling]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

[French hip-hop music playing
over radio]

[dramatic music]

[motor revving]

[laughter]

[grunts aggressively]

[laughter]

[indistinct chatter]

- [speaking french]

- [yells]

- [speaking french]

[water whooshing]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

[truck beeping]

[truck beeping]

[truck beeping]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- [speaking french]

- Hey. Kevin.

- What's up, man? How are you?

- I'm good. I'm good.

I'm in the middle
of pasting right now.

[laughs]
Actually, with the team.

- Yeah, yeah.

- You know where I did
my first pasting...

- Yeah.
- Where I did the photo

of my friend with the camera?

So I'm exactly right there.

Everything has been rebuilt
into smaller buildings.

And the last giant building
of the neighborhood

is being destroyed.

So we're pasting
the entire building.

- But how's everything
over there?

- Wow, but, you know,

let's focus
on the positive things.

You're coming out very soon.
That's crazy.

And this whole swastika
on your face

will be an old story
that you'll be telling.

will be an old story
that you'll be telling.

[soft vocal music]

- I've seen lots of negativity
in my life.

I've seen it.
I know what it's like.

It's just so much easier
to find the dark side.

Right now, it's only
the primary necessity shops

that are open.

Everyone's just locked
at home.

The basic things
that we need to survive

is actually human contact
and to get to know the other

and to get to listen
to the other.

It's something
as important as eating.

My work is just an excuse
to create those encounters

so that people
who would normally

never meet get to meet.

It was only a year ago

I was right here in Paris,
pasting the entire Louvre.

We had volunteers
come from all over

to paste this giant anamorph.

400 people pasting it.

People on the floor
wondering what it is,

looking at it.

[cheers and applause]

We were at a moment
where we could all gather,

where we could
all share something.

But that can all be
taken away in a heartbeat.

Often, I rush
into doing projects

because I think there will be
no tomorrow to do them.

This pandemic makes me focus
on that even more.

[birds chirping]

One of my students, Paolo,
just learned

that because of the pandemic,
he couldn't renew his visa,

so he had to drop out
of School Kourtrajm

and go back to Brazil.

[indistinct chatter]

- [speaking french]

So tell me.

- Corona and visa problems,

I have to go back to Brazil.

- Wow. That's crazy.

It's a burden that you cannot
be with the students,

you know,
for the final show of the year

and that you're forced
to go back.

But it's actually a big chance
for us--I hope for you too--

to go there and connect
with the two worlds.

- Mm-hmm.

- I went to Brazil
when I was 23, 24.

I don't actually remember,
but there was an incident

in--very violent
incident in Rio

in one of the favela
called Provid ncia.

- I remember.
- You remember it.

- [speaking portuguese]

- Those three kids
were just walking to school

in the favela in Brazil,

and they were arrested
by the police.

"Oh, you don't have
your papers?

Come with us."

And the police sold them
to an enemy favela,

where they got killed
and chopped into pieces.

[somber music]

- [yelling in portuguese]

[people chanting in portuguese]

- Three kids being killed

at the hands of the police
in Brazil,

it reminded me of the deaths
of Zyed and Bouna

in Montfermeil, Les Bosquets.

But I'm not gonna just hear
what the news is telling me.

I want to hear it by myself.

I want to meet those people.

[dramatic music]

So I went there, 2008.

[children mimicking gunfire]

- [speaking portuguese]

- When I got there,
I understood

that it was
a complicated favela.

It's the home of the--one of
the largest commando of drug

called the Red Commando.

[gunfire]

The community, because
of all the drug dealing,

there are a lot of guns
involved.

- [speaking portuguese]

- [speaking portuguese]

I saw how impossible it was
to walk in the favelas.

So I started taking photos
on the edge of the favela.

As I walked around,
I met Rosiete,

and she saw that I was
clearly not from there,

you know, that I was a gringo,
like you say in Brazil,

for foreigners.
- Yes.

- So she said,
"What are you doing?"

And I say,
"Hey, I'm an artist.

"I'm actually trying
to do a project about women

"and how they are the pillar
of their community.

"I've been working
in Kenya, Liberia,

Sierra Leone,
and other countries."

And she say, "Well, you know,
we need art here.

There's not enough art."

And I was like,
"Yeah, can I come?"

She says, "No. Go home.

"Leave your bag.
Leave everything.

"Tomorrow, come back
the same place.

You see that street?
Go up the street, all the way."

"Anyone who stops you
with a gun,

you tell them you're coming
to see Rosiete."

When I got up there,

she was waiting for me
on the main square.

And she said,
"We want to introduce you

to someone
from the community."

I was like, "Yeah, sure.
Who?"

"His name is Mauricio.
He's a photographer."

So, you know, in my head,
I'm like,

"Okay, cool, but we don't
really need a photographer.

"I need to know
how I can paste on the house.

I want to take portraits."

They're like, "No, you need
to talk to Mauricio."

So then Mauricio arrives.

He's born there, raised there,
knows everyone.

Rather than explaining
what I wanted to do,

I took portraits that I had
from other projects,

and using my computer,

I placed eyes on the house
in Provid ncia.

And I brought him
that piece of paper.

Then he understood.

He smiled, because suddenly

it was a project
on his favela.

"Oh, you know this one?"

"Yes, that's my neighbor."

And we walked
through the favela.

He knocks at the door,
and she said,

"What's up, Mauricio?
What can I do?"

"Nah, he wants to know if he
can paste on your house."

"Yeah, was it?
Is it political?"

"No, no, it's not political."

"Is it gonna damage my house?"

"No, no."
"Okay, then come in.

You want to--you want
to do it now?"

"Oh, no, no, no.
We're not ready.

He's just--I'm asking
if you want."

"Of course! Why do you bother?
Just come and do it."

So I take the paper,
and I go, fwt, checked.

So then we went
to the next house.

Check.

Maybe Saturday or Sunday,

because her husband
was working,

so we'd have the answer
on the weekend.

Most of the people were like,
"Sure! Do it."

Mauricio said, "Okay,

you need to meet
the head of the drug dealers."

So one night,
we walk down the favela.

Kids with machine guns,
grenades, bulletproof jackets.

We arrive, and there
was three leaders,

and they ask us straightaway,

"So yo, who are you?
What do you want?"

And we say, "Oh, no,
we're artists from France."

And I'm there,
and I'm with Ladj.

He came with me.
And we have our computer.

And I say, "Okay, look,
this is what we've done

in the favelas of France,
you know?"

And they look, and it's like,
"What? This is not a favela.

This is the richest building."

"Oh, yeah, yeah, okay."

I show them
Israel-Palestine project.

This project right here.
- Mm-hmm.

- We pasted the wall
in Israel-Palestine.

And one of the guys say,
"What is Israel-Palestine?"

They never heard of it.

And I couldn't find a bridge
to explain to them

what were the other projects.

So I closed it,
and we're like,

"Okay, look,
this is what we want to do.

We took those photos.
We want to paste them."

[indistinct chatter]

The next day,
we started pasting the stair.

The stair is actually right
in the heart of the favela.

You can't see it from outside.

It's just something
that only the locals can see.

So we paste.
It's a beautiful day.

And then suddenly...

[gunshots]
- [speaking portuguese]

[all speaking portuguese]

Police comes up.
Drug dealers replied.

We're in the middle of that.

- [speaking portuguese]

- Ladj is filming
down the stairs,

and pop-pop, pop-pop,

and, like, start shooting
from all over.

[all speaking portuguese]

[all speaking portuguese]

[all speaking portuguese]

[all speaking portuguese]

- And then couple hours later,

life had started
like nothing happened.

And the next day,
we come back and continue.

- [speaking portuguese]

- The first image
was the grandmother

of one of the three kids.

Everyone understood.

They understood
what it was for.

There was no need to explain.
There was no text to put.

They knew what it meant.

- [speaking portuguese]

- [speaking portuguese]

- [speaking portuguese]

- [speaking portuguese]

- [speaking portuguese]

- That's when we left.

I didn't want to do
any interview.

I wanted the women
to tell their own story.

[dogs barking]

- [speaking portuguese]

[women singing in portuguese]

[all speaking portuguese]

[all speaking portuguese]

[indistinct chatter, laughter]

[indistinct chatter, laughter]

[indistinct chatter, laughter]

[indistinct chatter]

[indistinct chatter]

[rain pattering]

- When I was back in Brazil
a couple months after,

the people in the favela
were telling me,

"JR, there's no school there.
There's no NGO.

There's nothing.
You have to do one."

And I was 24.

"What, you want me
to create a school?

Like, I can't do that."

Mauricio kept calling me:
"JR, there's this house.

"This house is empty

"because it keeps
receiving bullets

"from the different shootings,
so no one wants it,

"and the old man
wants to sell it.

You should buy it."

So I gathered the money,
and I went there.

I actually taped
the money on my body.

And I walked up and bought
the house from the old man.

The first thing we did
when we got the house

was go down the hill
to the paint shop

and bought
all the yellow they had,

'cause there was a sale
that day on the yellow.

And we called the house
Casa Amarela,

the Yellow House.

That's it.
And then we had no problem.

[indistinct chatter]

- [speaking portuguese]

[all speaking portuguese]

- Yuri.

- Mariana.

- There was no chairs,
no tables, nothing.

So our best idea was, like,

"Oh, let's give a camera"
to the kids.

[speaking portuguese]

- [speaking portuguese]

- [speaking portuguese]

[upbeat music]

[people singing in portuguese]

[all speaking portuguese]

- [speaking portuguese]

[laughter]

- [speaking portuguese]

- Everyone took photos
of the family and stuff,

and we pasted it,
and then we decided

to celebrate
the launch of Casa Amarela.

I thought it would be amazing

if we actually get
the people from the city

to come up there,
people who live there

and see the favela every day
and never been up there.

And we went and see
the drug dealer, and we say,

"Okay, tonight
we want to launch this house,

"and we want people
from the city

"to be able to come in.

"Can we ask you a favor?

Is that there'll be no guns
on the stairs?"

And they're like, "Ah, we don't
know if that's possible.

We'll see."

[hip-hop music playing]

- [singing in portuguese]

- A lot of people came,
people who live in Rio

but have never put a foot
in Provid ncia before.

[fireworks popping]

And that night,
I'll never forget,

this time, I walk up,
they raise their shirt,

and they turn around,
back and front,

show me they had no gun.

[dramatic music]

That's the moment I realize
how culture have a huge power.

Those guys don't know
anything about art,

but they had seen
what we've done,

and they accept to take up
their gun for an opening.

I would have never
imagined that.

[cheers and applause]

- Ten years now.
It's been ten years.

We built everything ourself.

The class, the boards,
everything is handmade.

I brought two friends,
one from Japan,

one from the U.S.,

and they covered
the entire house

like if a tree went
in and out of the doors.

We were just trying
to keep going

and with better years
than others.

How do you show those kids
another path than drugs?

And we couldn't do it
for every kid.

A lot of those kids
ended up being drug dealers.

[both speaking portuguese]

- That's him right there.

And if you look at that photo,

he's the only one who survived,
all those kids.

Most of them went
into drug dealing or died.

That's just
the reality of life.

Art will not save everyone
and everything.

But when these projects
shine all over the world,

showing a positive message

for once
for one of those places,

then they understood
the power of art.

What happened is,
the mayor saw this favela--

the one he had wished, before,
didn't exist--on TV every day

but this time,
for positive things.

So he send the garbage truck.

Then he send electricity:
"Let's redo those cables."

So since then,
a lot of things had happened.

But we were struggling
to bring artists there.

It's really hard to get people

past the fear
of going in a place

where there is
all this violence.

I looked at them, I'm like,
"Well, we're in here.

"The police, the states
don't come

"and ask us any question.

We can do whatever we want."

I went to see my neighbor,
and I say,

"Excuse me,
I have a question for you.

What happen if we build
something in the sky?"

Said, "Well, I don't care.

"You know, as long
as it doesn't impact me,

do whatever you want."

So I said, "Well, I want
to build a moon up there

"that everyone sees it
from all over the city.

"And I want that moon
to be a bedroom

"so an artist--
you when you'll go there--

"everyone that will come
and donate time

to the kids
can sleep up there."

[tools banging]

[indistinct chatter]

Gonna open the lock.

And it's open.

This is the moon, guys.

This is my favorite place,
where the teachers who come

and give class in the school
can come in and sleep.

There's even AC in there.

And then if you open...

What's up, baby?

That's really top of the moon.

There are limits that we all
have within ourself,

limits about
what we think is possible

and what we think is not.

I have those too.

And yet people constantly
show me that these limits

are not where
we think they are.

They're way further.

[machinery whirring]

[all speaking french]

[all speaking french]

[all speaking french]

[all speaking french]

[all speaking french]

[camera shutter clicking]

[soft vocal music]

[debris crashing]

It's not only about the art.

It's about the people.

My friend Agn s Varda believed

that inside of each person
is a landscape.

I would say
that within all landscapes,

behind all walls,

are people.

[uplifting music]

[speaking french]

- Wow.

[applause]

[speaking french]

Art Spiegelman wrote a book

about his parents' experience
in Auschwitz.

He signed it for Kevin.

And Kevin's right there.
He want to say something.

- Thank you very much, Art.

And I do look forward
to meeting you one day.

- For sure.
- For sure. For sure.

Without the tattoo.
[laughter]

- Come on, give me some French.

- [speaking french]

[laughter]

- Damn. That's a good group.
Right there.

Okay, let me run to--
from the point of view.

And that's what it look like.

No more walls. Yeah!

- Whoo!
- [whistles]

[bright music]