And It Don't Stop

“Hip-hop is more than just one thing,” says Denver Film Society programming manager Keith Garcia, the man behind a new Wednesday series titled Next Stop, Hip Hop. “It’s an attitude, it’s a style — it’s a whole world.”

The flicks Garcia’s assembled examine hip-hop from every angle. First up was Style Wars, a 1983 documentary that’s “almost a nature-guide version of what was going on then,” he says. That’s followed tonight by 2001’s Scratch and 1999’s Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme, which celebrate DJs and MCs, respectively, and, on July 16, Inside the Circle, a new look at B-boy culture whose director, Marcy Garriot, will attend the Denver premiere with one of her featured dancers. Finally, 2005’s Infamy, a doc that paints a picture of the graffiti scene, leads to 1983’s Wild Style, which combines a fictional narrative with vintage performances by Grandmaster Flash, the Cold Crush Brothers and more. Garcia promises “it’ll break it down for you.”

Word.

Scratch and Freestyle screen at 7 p.m. at Starz FilmCenter in the Tivoli. Tickets are $6 for Denver Film Society members, $7 for students and seniors, and $9.50 for others. Subsequent films can be seen Wednesdays through July, and series discounts are available. Get the details at 303-595-3456 or www.denverfilm.org.
Wed., July 9, 2008