hauntedwoods

Just saw a screening at the Rio in Vancouver, knowing almost nothing about legendary street artist/addict Ken Foster, and this blew me away. I'm always fascinated by brilliant people who can't keep up with their own minds, creating amazing art and having mind boggling ideas, but who also harbor addictions to help them cope with this. Foster isn't exactly battling his addiction, it's essentially part of his process and doesn't seem to slow down his art in any way. Yet he does fight with schizophrenia, resulting in one tearjerking moment of clarity in his pain as he wrestles with his own mental burden. Ken hustles his breathtaking art on the street for chump change, practically, and you're so taken with him you just wish people would pay him what he's actually worth(he does have a few proper patrons keeping him afloat to a degree, though). His offbeat friendship with a fellow crackhead Melissa could spawn a ten hour series and still not wear out its welcome. And we cheer alongside him as he enters a prominent Art Battle competition, turning out masterpieces in 20 minutes. Even if you've not heard of its subject, I expect this doc will not only put Foster on the map in a global art scene, but be hailed as straight-up terrific filmmaking as it gets out there. Huge thumbs up!