Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry

Director: Erich Weiss
Cast: Donald Ed Hardy, Michael Malone, Zeke Owen, Lyle Tuttle, Philadelphia Eddie Funk
Format: HDCam   Runtime: 77 minutes
More Info

screening in: Special Screenings

Screening Times

6:30 PM, Wednesday March 12th - Dobie
Add this to my SXSW Calendar

11:00 AM, Thursday March 13th - Dobie
Add this to my SXSW Calendar

1:30 PM, Friday March 14th - Dobie
Add this to my SXSW Calendar

everything subject to change

 Watch Film Trailer:
Quicktime (640x480)    MPEG-4 (320x240)  
help

Synopsis:
Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry is a feature, length documentary exploring the roots of American tattooing through the life of its most iconoclastic figure Norman 'Sailor Jerry' Collins. Considered by many the foremost tattoo artist of all time, Collins, is the father of modern day tattooing whose uncompromising lifestyle and larger than life persona made him an American legend. Through rare interviews, photographs and hours of archival footage, 'Sailor Jerry: The Life and Times of Norman Keith Collins' explores the past, present and future of the global tattooing phenomenon.Based in Honolulu for most of his career, Sailor Jerry would come to symbolize the masculine ethos at a time when thousand of enlisted men were embanked in Hawaii during World War II. Miles from home and ready to die, fueled by devil-may care attitudes, these men went on shore leave with a single purpose in mind: to get 'Stewed, Screwed, and Tattooed.' Jerry marked these men with what would come to symbolize a new style of American folk art; tattoos that blended traditional elements of continental motifs with the finesse, shading, and artistic nuance of the Japanese tattoo masters. Borne from his own years of travel on the high seas, Jerry synthesized the best of East and West and created a dynamic and spectacular new art form by introducing an array of his own advancements into tattooing, from color creation and machine building to the introduction of sterilization. Permanently etched on the bodies of the hundreds of men who passed through his Honolulu parlor, his work tells of war and heartache with a dedication to style, craft and detail that would make 'Sailor Jerry' one of the most influential, if little recognized, American folk artists of the 20th Century. A man of many faces, Jerry was an intelligent, dark humored prankster with a fiercely independent mind. A pitiless, right wing, social libertarian, Jerry believed in freedom with a capital 'F' as symbolized by the secretive, closed world of back alley tattooing - or as he put it, 'the ultimate rebellion against the squares'. In this film, the first of its kind, Sailor Jerry's story and mystique is explored in depth through interviews with his peers and those he influenced like prot©g©es Don Ed Hardy and Mike Malone. Through their stories and shared memoriesÉ a dynamic tale is woven that chronicles the story of a great American artist whose work has never been displayed in museums, but on the bodies of those brave and fortunate enough to serve as Jerry's canvas.

Director's Bio:
Erich Weiss is a commercial director from Philadelphia, PA. He has produced and shot numerous commercial campaigns as well as videos and documentaries for a diverse roster of artists such as John Legend, Spank Rock, Eagles of Death Metal, and the Buzzcocks.He is currently the editor at large for Inked Magazine.