Dondi

Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant's PBS documentary tracks the rise and fall of subway graffiti in New York in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Legendary New York graffiti artist Lee Quinones plays the part of Zoro, the city's hottest and most elusive graffiti writer. The actual story of the movie concerns the tension between Zoro's passion for his art and his personal life, particularly his strained relationship with fellow artist Rose.

From Henry Chalfant, the director genre defining documentary Style Wars, comes what was intended to be the first installment in a regular television series on New York's bludgeoning hip-hop culture, with a specific focus on graffiti. Funding fell through but the material was just to good be left to languish. Chalfant put together what he had and, like Style Wars, it continues to stand as a document of a culture in blossom.