Coming to DVD next Tuesday, March 11: THE LEGEND OF COOL “DISCO” DAN
Joseph Pattisall’s urban anthropology of Washington DC through the profile of a graffiti artist made its debut at Silver Spring’s AFI Silver Theatre last January. It went on to screen at additional special engagements in Washington DC, LA, San Diego, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Baltimore, among other cities.
In the 1980s, a Washington DC resident would be hard-pressed not to know who Cool “Disco” Dan was – his tag was ubiquitous, fueling speculation as to his identity and ability to reach so many locations. Filmmaker Pattisall tells Dan’s story – in reality a quiet African American teenager who turned to street art instead of other vices in order to make a name for himself – but, perhaps recognizing that, ultimately, there isn’s a great deal to it in a vacuum, expands his scope to contextualize Dan within the larger DC black culture of the era, and, specifically, go go music culture, a genre unique to the community based on live performances, bootleg tapes, and neighborhood crews. It’s in this greater exploration that the film proves most fascinating, detailing how this small music subgenre fell prey to racially-motivated police crackdowns, ultimately paving the way for the growth of gangs and drug warfare.
what (not) to doc 