All Out War Press Summary

Robert Pilichowski

All Out War

World Premiere North By Northeast Festival – July 13 GAT PR Press Summary

See full video here: http://globalnews.ca/video/637322/toronto-­‐filmmaker-­‐celebrates-­‐b-­‐boy-­‐culture-­‐with-­‐a-­‐documentary-­‐10-­‐ years-­‐in-­‐the-­‐making

Rob Pilichowski http://www.theimageinterview.com/robert-­‐pilichowski.html

See link for photo interview

What came first? Filmmaking, photography, or design?

Drawing was actually the first thing that i got into at an early age, which then led to photography. My dad used to shoot film and develop his own pictures in the bathroom. I didn't know it at the time but that definitely influenced me. I borrowed his camera to take my own photos and never looked back. When my dad bought a Video 8 Handycam in the 80's, i appropriated that as well. Shooting my own mock commercials and skateboard videos. That led to me doing more video and animation work in University. I didn't get into design until i graduated and got my first gig at Cuppa Coffee Animation.

How do they all play in to each other?

All of my creative outlets influence one another. Having a background in photography has really influenced the way i frame things and compose scenes when it comes to filmmaking. Using the rule of thirds for instance. A lot of times i'll also frame things as if i were to take a photograph. Filming a scene and letting it unfold on it's own with people and things moving in and out of the frame, as if it were a moving photograph.

All Out War is a documentary about b-­‐boy culture, what drew you to the topic?

I'm an 80's kid so i grew up when you would see Bboying everywhere. I always wondered what had happened to the dance and it wasn't until i saw local crew, Bag of Trix on Much Music, along with Run DMC's, It's Like That video that i realized that the dance was still going strong, it was just more underground.

What tracks make you bust a move on the dance floor?

Not sure about busting a move on the dance floor but i definitely have been known to get down in my car to: "I Wouldn't Change A Thing" by Coke Escovedo.

What are some of your favourite spots in New York and Toronto?

I tend to hang out in Brooklyn when i go to N.Y. I did some interior design work on a restaurant in Bushwick, so i tend to drop by there quite often, it's called Dear Bushwick. The Warm Up parties that happen at PS1 in the summers in NY are always really fun too. There is a really cozy bar near where i live in Toronto called Wallflower that i like a lot. Black Dice Cafe, Three Speed and Odd Seoul are a few other favourite local hang outs.

What helps you refuel your creative juices?

I get a bit claustrophobic when i haven't traveled anywhere in awhile so getting away always tends to get the juices flowing when i'm in a bit of a rut.

What are some worlds you've experienced with your cameras?

I've gotten to see some amazing places and met some great people i wouldn't have experienced if it wasn't for working in film and photography. Working on All Out War has sent me all over the world, shooting everywhere from huge competitions with thousands of fans in Europe, to filming in the shanty towns in the Philippines. I've been to everything from underground biker bars in The Bronx, to low rider car clubs in L.A. All of which have brought me in contact with some pretty interesting characters.

Any more films in your future?

Yes but it will most likely be a short. My latest feature took 10 years to make, so i'm looking forward to working on something that is a bit more immediate.

Interview: Robert Pilichowski Andrew Parker

http://dorkshelf.com/2013/06/14/interview-­‐robert-­‐pilichowski/

Robert Pilichowski is a director that seems a lot less larger than life than the subjects of his latest film, the break dancing documentary All Out War, premiering this weekend at NXNE as part of the film program. He’s remarkably polite (like so many others raised in Toronto) and down to Earth as we talk over lunch at Canteen on King Street the day before his film is set to debut.

It’s a remarkable contrast since his film follows around a group of street dancers trying to make it in an almost unwinnable and tough game. He does a great job of capturing the swagger of such superstars of the cardboard and polished plywood circuit, despite not having very much of it himself. Maybe it’s that soft spoken and down to Earth nature that made it easy for him to get a more personal take on these people, all of them preparing for a vital and high profile one-­‐on-­‐one dance battle competition known as King of the Ring. There’s Alien Ness from the Bronx River projects, who’s very open about having done time and his willingness to do it again. There’s Machine, a consummate professional from San Francisco always trying to hone his craft. Casper’s a Vancouver born, LA living youngster on the verge of breaking out despite familial difficulties that include a homeless father.

Dyzee is a former addict from the T-­‐Dot who found strength to move beyond drugs with his moves.

Despite some of them hailing from beefing crews in a sometimes dangerous game where other dancers constantly accuse rivals of biting their styles, Pilichowski gets to the heart of the people behind the blistering moves, showing not only the dedication, but the steps it takes to get to even to the middle of the dance game on your own.

We chatted with Pilichowski about how he got hooked on filming these people, how he picked his subject, the original plans for the film, and never getting in the middle of beef,

Dork Shelf: What made you want to tell the more personal side of the people who make up street dance crews instead of going the same route that films and TV shows usually do, which is to show how their crews actually come together?

Robert Pilichowski: I think I was just so enamoured by the dance itself and how dynamic and incredible it all was, but I just kind of wanted to know more about the pain that went into it and just that drive and that passion that they had for it. That was what I wanted to get across. Most people don’t get to see that side. Even in a lot of films both fictional and not that have come out previously you really only get a taste of it. But to truly understand it, I think you need to get a lot closer to it and to build that rapport and to have people let you into their lives.

DS: Most people probably don’t realize that the people you are focusing on really see what they are doing as a job and a potential means to an end. Were you at all surprised by that or was it a quality that you were actively looking for when you were looking for subjects to focus on?

RP: Yeah, but I guess I didn’t realize to what extent I was looking for that when I started. It’s a lifestyle, and it’s nothing that you can just sort of wander in and out of. These guys, they live it. It’s their culture. It’s non-­‐stop for them. That was sort of eye opening because it’s hard to think about things in those terms from outside of a given culture.

DS: At what point did you build everything in your film around King of the Ring? Was it so you could best choose subjects for the film or was that always your intention?

RP: (laughs) It never was the intention. That King of the Ring battle was just something we were going to film anyway. It was just one of many battles that I had been filming as I was following some of the key subjects in the film. It wasn’t until one of them ends up (doing really well) that we realized that it was kind of major and it ended up becoming a huge part of the climax of the film.

DS: Did you film a lot of other dancers that really didn’t make it into the movie if that’s the case?

RP: No, actually. Pretty much all 34 people we talked to made it into the film and all of the major characters are the ones we always intended to be the major ones. The only thing we never knew was the outcome or what was going to happen. Some of them were really keen on talking about these things and trying to make it as far as possible in that battle, and all of them ended up going to that battle so it all worked out.

DS: Some of these people, like Alien and Casper, have pretty rough lives that you think they might not want to talk about openly. What was it like trying to get these people to open up about more than just the dancing?

RP: It was really surprising to me how candid they all were, but it really depended on who I was speaking to what I was going to get. Some of the guys took longer than other, but that’s to be expected. But with someone like Alien Ness it was easy. That rooftop interview that I get most of my footage with him from was actually the first interview I did with him. He was just incredible, like he was a complete open book. That’s what’s really great about him. You can love him or you can hate him, but he’s always very straight up about things. He’s the real deal.

DS: How long did it take you to put this film together? From the look of it and the time period it takes place in it seems like this was a really long term project for you.

RP: Yeah. I started filming it, actually, in 2003, but the focus only started to come through about these four particular B-­‐boys much later on. I was originally trying to focus on two specific crews, and that didn’t pan out, because, again, I was trying to show that dynamic that crews had and those rivalries. Also there are just so many members of some crews that it’s really hard to get to know any one of them. That’s when I started to film these four individuals. Dyzee was from one of those crews, and he was from Toronto. Then the other guys I met kind of organically as I followed Dyzee.

DS: You really make it known that these crews can have legitimate beef with one another that could end up in someone getting jumped or beaten down physically. Were you ever wary about getting in the middle of that since your subjects were from different crews?

RP: There was definitely that element to it because that animosity was always there. Dyzee and his crew Supernaturalz have a lot of long standing beefs with other Toronto crews, so I think that my being from here kind of played into that, because he’s been the one of them that’s really been on the map and in the spotlight. I think he gets a lot of flack for that, but I think it’s also because a lot of rival crews think that he’s been taking some of his style from other people and getting famous because of that. I think it all goes deeper than that and there’s a lot of history that these guys experience or have to deal with.

DS: It’s something you have to tread lightly on because the stealing of moves is tantamount to treason in this kind of thing and you were able to see them rehearse. Were these crews open to letting you see that even though they knew you would be talking to other crews?

RP: Yeah, and again, that sort of trust took a long time to build. I liked to be as unbiased as possible when making this film; to show that there’s always two sides to the story. But that’s really hard to do when one side doesn’t want to tell that story. It’s kind of why when we focus on Dyzee, but we don’t get so much from the other end.

It’s funny because they would let me go to their practices, though.

They let me film their warm-­‐ups and all those things, but at the same time I don’t know if I ever necessarily saw everything that they were working on. I think there were times where they probably held back. Even the opening to the film where everyone is there, that was filmed the day before King of the Ring.

Everyone was invited and as many as could show up made it into the opening, but you have to remember that these are also the same guys they are going to be competing against the next day.

You definitely got the sense that they weren’t showing everything that they had. They’re very cautious of that, for sure.

Music docs rock the Bloor Jason Anderson

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2013/06/06/music_docs_rock_the_bloor.html

NXNE FILM: The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema lays claim to the honour of being the city’s hardest rocking moviehouse this week. First up on the slate are two new music movies,Peaches Does Herself and Levon Helm: Ain’t In It For My Health , both of which have multiple screenings at the Bloor between June 7 and 13. (Helm does double duty in the classic Band concert film The Last Waltz on June 9, too.) June 13 also sees the launch for the film component of the annual music festival known as North by Northeast . The four-­‐day program begins June 13 at 6:45 p.m. with the world premiere of Authentic , a doc about the unglamorous realities of touring Canada as experienced by the Hamilton indie-­‐rock trio Young Rival . Next up at 9:15 p.m. is All Out War , a film by Toronto’s Robert Pilichowski that profiles four rising talents on the b-­‐boy competition circuit.

Crowdfunding gives b-­‐boy documentary stance Jim Slotek

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/06/21/crowdfunding-­‐gives-­‐b-­‐boy-­‐documentary-­‐stance

Canadian filmmaker Robert Pilichowski is guardedly happy about the $14,000 raised on Kickstarter for All Out War, his documentary on the global b-­‐boy dance scene.

It’s not the $3 million that was ponied up for a Veronica Mars movie. Or the $3.1 mil Zach Braff attracted to direct his movie Wish I Were Here.

It’s not even the $200,000 Indiegogo’s “Crackstarter” campaign raised to buy the elusive alleged video of Toronto mayor Rob Ford smoking crack.

In fact, it’s a tiny fraction of what Pilichowski has already spent over a decade on this gamble. After initial grants from federal and provincial Arts Councils, he’s mortgaged his house to continue to film the competitive dance formerly called “breakdancing,” which now takes place in fight rings, worldwide. The budget is up in the “$350,000 to $400,000” range.

The $14,000 is “finish line” money for the movie, which premiered at the North By Northeast festival in Toronto, and has a CBC broadcast commitment. “It’s post-­‐finishing things like colour-­‐correction, music, sound design, marketing, submissions to film festivals, DVD production, stuff like that,” the Polish-­‐born Canadian filmmaker says.

Will he make money? “No,” he admits with a laugh. “But I would never have experienced what I did if it wasn’t for the film. We went all over the world with these guys, from huge competitions in Europe to shantytowns in the Philippines.

Some pretty incredible moments.”

Filmmakers like Pilichowski represent the real users of Kickstarter and other “crowdsourcing” sites. Kickstarter has sourced more than $120 million for film projects in four years, but in smaller increments than you’d imagine.

Probably the most frugal filmmaker in Canada, Ingrid Veninger has financed at least three micro-­‐budgeted features herself, without grants — including the award-­‐winning Modra, shot in her family’s ancestral village in Slovakia. She’s done it all on the strength of actor friends’ favours, small crews and on-­‐the-­‐fly footage.

Her fourth, as-­‐yet-­‐untitled film — about an acting teacher (Aaron Poole) with a problematic relationship with his son — is already shot, with a main cast of eight and 44 location shoots. She’s crowdsourcing her film for the first time, seeking $17,800 via Indiegogo. (A popular route for Canucks, since it deals in Canadian dollars, Indiegogo does a third of its business up north, doubling the number of Canadian campaigns in a year.)

“That’s a lot of money for me and it’s going to get me through post-­‐production, the music, the marketing,” Veninger says. “Even with $17,800 there’ll still be a lot of favours. Printing posters alone costs so much.”

Crowdsourcing is charity. Nobody owns a piece of anything for their investment. In film, one typically gets (depending on the size of the donation) an onscreen credit, maybe a T-­‐shirt or a DVD (throw in a tote-­‐bag and it could be PBS).

Others get more imaginative. For a $100 donation, Veninger says, “my daughter will do two hours of free child care.

Another actress, Hannah Cheesman, makes these felt dolls that she’ll personalize “in the contributor’s image.”

Five hundred dollars gets dinner with the director and a cast member.

“It’s my first time doing it,” Veninger says. “Am I scared? Yes. Do I know for sure we’ll raise $17,800? No. Am I going to have fun doing it? Yes!

“If they’ve given $5 they’ve got a little bit invested and they care about it. Now they’re part of the tribe.”

And sometimes, there already is a tribe. After two seasons on Space, the occult/comedy series Todd and the Book of Pure Evil was cancelled last year — with cliffhangers hanging, and at least one character apparently dead.

The producers, however, didn’t accept cancellation, and went to Indiegogo to help fund an animated feature that would tie up the loose ends.

“We actually thought we were going to have a Season 3,” says producer Andrew Rosen of the made-­‐in-­‐Winnipeg TV series. “So we wanted to at least give our fans that conclusion. Our line was, ‘Space can discontinue us, but only we can cancel us.’ ”

“And Indiegogo was a way to measure if we truly had fans. Everybody told us what a cult show it was, and that people loved it. A change.org campaign got 11,000 signatures to bring back the show. At Fan Expo (in Toronto) there were placards and everything. And another fan started a website called savetoddandthebookofpureevil.com.

“I guess it was analogous to Veronica Mars. The difference is Veronica Mars has more affluent fans. O urs are a lot of passionate stoners and teens. We were telling some of our major fans to not give us so much money because they needed it to live.”

Even so, the “ask” for Todd, $75,000, was quickly eclipsed, with donations of $125,000 — about half the budget of the planned animated feature. (Rosen says at least one impressed broadcaster has offered to match the figure.) The schedule has the movie opening in limited release in June 2014, ahead of a broadcast window.

Rosen says “about 50%” of the money came from the U.S., where Todd is on Netflix. About 30% came from Canada followed by Australia, France, Germany and Brazil. In Brazil, he says, “fans early on translated the show and downloaded it through torrents.”

You could call it grey-­‐market syndication.

Even the Oscars are in on it. This year’s documentary short winner Inocente benefitted from $52,000 of Kickstarter donations, and a Canadian nom for best live-­‐action short, Buzhashi Boys, received $37,000 (mostly from the Afghan-­‐ Canadian community).

Of course, film and TV projects like these are a thin sliver of crowdsourcing. Games and tech get plenty of action — including the Pebble Smartwatch (available for $150), which accesses the time via your smartphone, and which raised $10 mil of start money on Kickstarter.

“I think the next year or so will be crucial,” Rosen says. “We’ll find out if people deliver on their promises. If you donate to something and it doesn’t happen, it could make you think twice.”

Before the Internet

Before crowdsourcing, enterprising wannabe filmmakers had to find other ways to fund their dream projects. Here are some:

-­‐ Kevin Smith partly financed Clerks by selling his comic collection. He later bought the comic store, and it’s now the location for his series Comic Book Men.

-­‐ Robert Rodriguez supposedly funded El Mariachi by signing up at a pharmaceutical lab as a human guinea pig.

-­‐ While filming Eraserhead at night, David Lynch took various odd jobs during the day to fund the project – including a paper route delivering the Wall Street Journal.

-­‐ According to the book, The Coen Brothers: The Story of Two American Filmmakers by Josh Levine, Joel Coen got Blood Simple financing via a meeting with a Minnesota Hadassah fundraiser who gave him a list of the organization’s wealthiest contributors. “Then he started knocking on doors.”

-­‐Michael Moore financed Roger & Me with settlement money from a wrongful dismissal suit against Mother Jones magazine and by mortgaging his house.

B-­‐boy Culture Profile Feature Doc 'All Out War' To World Premiere At NXNE 6/13 (Trailer) Tambay A. Obenson http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/b-­‐boy-­‐culture-­‐profile-­‐feature-­‐doc-­‐all-­‐out-­‐war-­‐to-­‐world-­‐ premiere-­‐at-­‐nxne-­‐6-­‐13-­‐trailer

Information on a new documentary film that's set to begin its film festival travels at Canada's version of the SXSW Film & Music Festival (my description, not theirs), NXNE -­‐ or the North by Northeast Festivals and Conference.

Titled All Out War, it's directed by Robert Pilichowski, and will screen at NXNE, making its World Premiere thisThursday, June 13, 9:15pm, at The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema.

Full details via press release below, including quotes fro the filmmaker on his motivation for making the film, social media links, and more, followed by a trailer for the film.

All Out War: Just don’t call them breakdancers Geoff Pevere

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/all-­‐out-­‐war-­‐just-­‐dont-­‐call-­‐them-­‐ breakdancers/article12503997/

The “b” in b-­‐boying might stand for breaking, but you won’t hear it anywhere in All Out War. This is a movie that presumes you already know that, or else you wouldn’t be watching. We’re deep inside the urban subcultural inner sanctum here, and anybody who has to ask the question is in the wrong place.

The boys who do the breaking in this movie are competing for their lives. This is not to say that the highly ritualized, boxing-­‐ringed break contests – called “battles” – they train so arduously for are matters of life and death, but that they legitimize your life as a b-­‐boy. They prove you’ve got the skills, the moves and, most importantly, the commitment to dedicate both mind and spirit to the dance, that you’re in it for real.

If not, you’re just a “biter” – somebody who steals moves and claims them as his own – and there’s no lower form of “b” than that.

To the outside world, it looks like these kids – and some of them, it should be noted, are hardly kids, and have kids of their own – are practising a quaintly outmoded form of downtown street theatre once known as breakdancing. We might wonder how they got stuck in the same time loop that contains VW-­‐sized cassette ghetto blasters, pastel-­‐yellow Chuck Taylor high-­‐tops, skull-­‐print headbands and the Human Beat Box. Hasn’t anybody told them we’ve moved on? That even the South Bronx serves Frappuccinos?

They’d probably be grateful to hear that, for if there’s one thing shared by the almost religiously devoted competitive b-­‐boys in filmmaker Robert Pilichowski’s energizing, pavement-­‐up appreciation of the endurance of b-­‐boying, it’s that this is no fad and it’s better off for finally being forgotten by a fickle media world. With the expiration of mainstream pop cultural interest, the dilettantes have dispersed and only the real warriors remain. It’s been left to the hard core to maintain the legacy, refine the form and play the beat forward. And to never, like ever, use the word “breakdance.”

As Alien Ness, the film’s oldest b-­‐boy – a Bronx-­‐born lifer with a sense of history and kids of his own – describes himself, “I’m a survivor.” In this observation the defining move of the dance, in which the body hits the ground, spins upright on whatever point of axis lands first and bounces right back up again, is all the metaphor you really need. In this kind of dancing, the body is the equivalent of an inflatable punching doll – it gets back up no matter how hard it’s hit.

It’s no small credit to Pilichowski that he lets the dancers and dancing speak for themselves, and leaves all the history, analysis, socioeconomic reasoning and academic blather to the world outside. All Out War is a movie shaped to the scale and the attitude of these dead-­‐serious take-­‐no-­‐prisoners competitors. The dancing itself might be hard, but the reason to do it is simple: You come from a place where you have nothing but your pride and your body, and an all-­‐important goal – to leave “a legacy.” Like graffiti or rapping in the Bronx in the early days, it’s a way of leaving a mark that says you were there.

Sticking to the present-­‐tense lives of b-­‐boys preparing to “smoke some cats” at the King of the Ring throwdown in Toronto, Pilichowski allows the background stories of his subjects – Alien Ness (Luis Roberto Martinez), Dyzee (Karl Alba), Casper (Jesse Brown), Machine (Jeffrey McCann) – to emerge from the dull beat of daily lives. All are rooted in poverty and disrupted homes, some have come from violence and prison. For one or two the dancing has been a way of asserting an uncomplicated physical presence in a world they’ve felt ignored or shut out by; for a couple of others it’s been a way of turning anger into a form of almost poeticized aggression, where kung fu meets Gene Kelly. You’re still kicking ass, but nobody’s getting hurt. One of them even breaks for God.

Whenever the movie actually gets into the ring, either literally during the competitions or figuratively as it focuses on the dancing, All Out War gets right down to the business of showing all it needs to tell. If you can watch these guys in action and still wonder why they’re doing it, you probably also think they’re breakdancing. Just don’t say it out loud.

NXNE Film Jason Anderson

http://www.thegridto.com/culture/film/nxne-­‐film-­‐2/

The characters in All Out War (June 13, 9:15 p.m.) are all up and comers: Robert Pilichowski’s film submerges itself deep within global b-boy rituals, profiling four young pop-and-lockers en route to a big dance-off in Toronto. A better film might have made more of how a subcultural practice has become steadily corporatized (the climactic competition is sponsored by Red Bull) but All Out War is best watched as a showcase for its subjects’ physical talents. As the dancers corkscrew their bodies into impossible positions, the film achieves a certain beauty despite its ragged production values.

Toronto

06

NEWS

metronews.ca Thursday, June 13, 2013

Fords focus on 2014-15 Doug Ford. Councillor says he won’t run for council in 2014, awaiting shot at a provincial seat Coun. Doug Ford says he’ll have lots of time to help brother Rob campaign to be re-elected mayor in 2014.

That’s because Ford doesn’t plan to run to retain his council

seat, but rather is interested in seeking provincial office in the next Ontario election, in 2015.

Coun. Ford said the firing of Coun. Jaye Robinson from the powerful executive committee wasn’t a big deal, but Mayor Ford needs to have close allies around him as the election looms closer.

Candidates for mayor and council can register in early January. Voting day is Oct. 27, 2014. TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE

Breakdancers break out

Quoted

B-boy Joseph “J-Rebel” Hersco, left, director Robert Pilichowski and B-boy Jesse “Jazzy Jester” Catibog, break a pose for new doc All Out War in Toronto Wednesday. All Out War, directed by Pilichowski, offers a decades-worth of insight into b-boy culture, or “breakdancing.” The film is having it’s world premiere as part of NXNE at The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema on Thursday. CONTRIBUTED

“We’ve got to get ready for the upcoming election in January. We want to make sure we have a team that has the same priorities as the mayor.”

Coun. Doug Ford

‘Bawdy Houses’.

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The debate about the sex trade reached the Supreme Court four years after Toronto dominatrix Terri-Jean Bedford, along with two other sex workers, challenged the constitutionality of the antiprostitution laws.

Prostitution is not illegal in Canada, but most of the public activities around it are.

The sex workers argued the laws infringe on their rights, endangering their safety by driving their trade underground.

In 2010, Ontario’s Superior Court agreed and struck down the laws that make brothels, communication for street prostitution and “living off the avails” or pimping illegal.

Two years later, the Ontario Court of Appeal was split on the issue. It supported the legalization of

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Toronto police seek suspects after teen shot in chest

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Toronto police are searching for suspects after a 16-year-old boy was shot in the chest after answering his door.

Police say the unidentified teen answered a knock at the door of his downtown-area home on Tuesday night and was

Terri-Jean Bedford TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE

“bawdy houses” or brothels but kept the ban on street prostitution and “living off the avails” if exploitation was involved. Both sides appealed the ruling.

The Supreme Court justices will likely take several months to consider their decision.

If the judges do strike down any or all parts of the prostitution sections of the Criminal Code they would almost certainly give the federal government some breathing room to come up with new laws.

TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE

shot.

They say there were other people inside the home (near College Street and Spadina Avenue) when the incident happened just before 10 p.m.

The teen — who was listed in serious but stable condition in hospital Wednesday — is expected to recover.

Police say the victim is not co-operating in the investigation and no arrests have been made.

680NEWS, CFRB/THE CANADIAN PRESS

A Guide to documentaries of NXNE 2013 Alan Jones

http://www.torontostandard.com/culture/a-­‐guide-­‐to-­‐the-­‐documentaries-­‐of-­‐nxne-­‐2013

Robert Pilichowski's b-­‐boy doc All Out War must have spent a lot of time in post production. Most of the events it documents occurred way back in 2006, but its world premiere is this Thursday. The movie follows four breakdancers, one from Toronto, one from Los Angeles, and two from New York, as they prepare for the international King of the Ring tournament in Toronto. Often the profiles of these dancers can feel like an extended version of those slick televised biographies of professional athletes that air during breaks in the game, but all four of the dancers are interesting enough to hold our attention, including one teenager, known as Casper, who ends up as a cast member in Jamie Kennedy's Kickin' It Old Skool. It's surprisingly emotional when one b-­‐boy, Alien Ness from the Bronx, is prevented from crossing the border into Canada because of a criminal record. In addition to these qualities, All Out War also features some phenomenal dance footage, with much of the film's last half devoted to the final competition. It's not a bad start to this year's lineup.

NXNE Review: All Out War Nick Watson

http://www.pressplus1.com/canadian-­‐film-­‐reviews/nxne-­‐review-­‐all-­‐out-­‐war

The world of b-­‐boying (breakdancing is a forbidden term) is full of fierce competition and lots of passion. All Out Warfollows four hopeful dancers who want nothing more than to leave their mark on the art form and to get the respect they deserve in the b-­‐boy community. Alien Ness, the old school b-­‐boy from The Bronx. Casper a 17 year old b-­‐boy who seems to have everything against him. Machine, a teacher of the art of b-­‐boying. And finally Dyzee who shows promising talent as a struggling star. Each of the four dancers share their stories as we follow their journey to Red Bull's King of The Ring b-­‐boy tournament here in Toronto.

To be completely honest, when the movie started I wasn't sure if I was watching a documentary or a spoof of the Step Up movies. Probably through my own ignorance I didn't know that these b-­‐boys and b-­‐girls took what they did so seriously. That is not to say I didn't assume they took their dancing seriously as an art form, but the entire culture (this includes language, attitude, events etc) is nothing I know anything about. And you have to admit, it all seems incredibly cheesy, with Channing Tatum seconds away from making an on screen appearance. These dancers take these dance battles seriously, even referring to them as "wars", and using terminology like "I'm gonna smoke him". It all sounds very reminiscent of a cosplay event or Larping.

Rob Pilichowski funded his movie through kickstarter, raising the funds himself to get this project off the ground. But what seems interesting is that this whole movie revolves around an event called Red Bull King of the Ring, an event that happened in 2006 here in Toronto's Liberty Village and is claimed to be the most prestegious of the b-­‐boying events, despite it only ever occurring once. Setting up a stage in the Sony/BMG parking lots and charging admission with a strict no camera/cellphone policy, it seems the whole event was manufactured for the sole purpose of a movie in mind. And 7 years later we finally have the finished product.

There are a few glitches along the way in All Out War, and that mostly comes from the production of the film. The dance sequences are impressive, these guys know how to move beautifully and at lightning speeds. I am in awe of what they are capable of. However, the dance scenes are sped up, which makes it look like they are moving faster than they actually are, and shortens the dance considerably. Secondly, as is stated in the kickstarter page, the production team is still seeking out funding to help with the soundtrack, among other things. The music in the movie seems incredibly off, which don't really aide the film in it's authenticity.

The most fascinating part of All Out War, though, are the stories that each of the four dancers have to tell, each one comes from a different background, but all share the same inspiring passion for what they do: they just want to dance.

The stories are surprisingly touching, especially the one about Casper who has experienced homelessness as a youth.

It becomes clear that this isn't only about dancing to these guys, it is a way of life.

All Out War is an insightful look into a culture that I know nothing about other than what I have seen in movies and music videos. Born in the music and raised on the streets, the art form of b-­‐boying began in the early 70's, and is one of the most enduring forms of modern dance. While All Out War won't give you a history lesson, it will show you that it's participants have so much passion for what they do, and that should be inspiring for the rest of us. Just don't expect a topless Mr. Tatum to appear on screen.

All Out War NXNE Review http://myetvmedia.com/film-­‐review/all-­‐out-­‐war-­‐nxne13-­‐review/

Directed by Canadian filmmaker Robert Pilichowski, All Out War takes us on a journey from New York to California to Toronto, giving us an in-­‐depth look into breakdance and hip-­‐hop culture. Pilichowski follows four of North America’s most notable dancers over a number of years as they prepare for an international b-­‐boy competition: King of the Ring.

Casper is an eighteen-­‐year-­‐old Canadian now living in LA. In addition to acting in film and television he has been ferociously climbing the ranks in b-­‐boy notoriety and accomplishment. Casper’s humility and charm draws the audience into his story, and instantly has us rooting for his success.

Alien Ness, the oldest of the b-­‐boys, has been dancing since 1982 and has worked with hip-­‐hop icons such as Run-­‐ DMC, LL Cool J, Salt ‘n Pepa, Public Enemy, Wu-­‐Tang Clan, and the Black Eyed Peas. Representing both the “old school” and “new school” styles of breakdancing, his narrative is a reminder that breakdancing and b-­‐boy culture is a relatively new phenomenon.

Toronto native Dyzee represents the immense positivity breakdancing can manifest in one’s life. Breakdancing led him out of a life of substance abuse, providing him with the tools to give back a sense of purpose and discipline to underprivileged youth all over the world. Oh yeah, he’s also pioneered and mastered his own style called “threading”.

Machine left his family in the southern US to pursue his passion for breakdance, teaching, and battling in California.

His incredible dedication has earned him numerous international titles as well as roles in films like Step Up 2 and Step Up 3D.

Artistically shot, All Out War showcases the athleticism and dedication involved in breakdancing. The compelling portraits of these four b-­‐boys are wrought by struggle and adversity; their passion and drive for their art form has provided them a channel out of poverty, violence, gang warfare and drug use. What is most remarkable about this doc is the progress captured in the individuals featured. The achievements both personal and professional of the characters take this film from a predictable “dance competition” flick to a captivating and inspiring documentary.

NXNE Review: All Out War Courtney Small

http://www.bigthoughtsfromasmallmind.com/2013/06/nxne-­‐review-­‐all-­‐out-­‐war.html

Moving with speed, grace, and precision they work through each round in hopes of knocking out their competition. The pressure nears its boiling point as the judges take note of each jab and the zealous crowd cheers for their favourite combatant. The two individuals in the ring have spent hours rigorously training for this exact moment. Each one aware that one mistake could cost them the match. The fire in their eyes is a mixture of confidence and hunger as they know their time in the square ring, while brief, could make them legends. While the chance at nabbing the title would be nice, leaving a legacy is the ultimate goal.

Though this may sound like a recount of a Pay-­‐Per-­‐View boxing match featuring Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, it is actually a fight of a different sort. This is the world of B-­‐boying, a style of street dancing that was commonly referred to as “breakdancing” or “breaking” in the 70s and 80s. Considered to be one of the four key elements to hip hop, along with the MC, the DJ and the Graffiti artist, B-­‐boying has evolved into an art form that, thanks to Youtube, youth worldwide participate in. It is not only a way to express and showcase dance abilities, but also a non-­‐violent tool to settle disputes (a.k.a.“beefs”).

The mixture of skill and competition that is crucial to B-­‐boy culture is highlighted in Robert Pilichowski’s wonderful film, All Out War. Though “urban” dance is receiving more notice in mainstream films, used mainly as a plot tool to give ballet trained dancers an “edge”, none have been as captivating as Pilichowski’s film. He not only crafts one of the best films to ever be made about the B-­‐boying culture, but he also gives an honest look at the individuals who have dedicated much of their life to the art form.

All Out War follows four B-­‐boys from different parts of North America as they prepare for the 2006 King of the Ring competition in Toronto. A bracket style battle tournament, King of the Ring pits the world’s best B-­‐boys/B-­‐girls against each other until one ultimate winner is chosen. Each pair of battlers has only three rounds to out dance the other before a panel of judges declare who will advance. Unlike most films that focus on sporting competitions, do not look for any rise of the underdog type tale here. Pilichowski gives each of one of the four B-­‐boys equal and objective footing throughout the entire film.

It is a smart choice considering that Pilichowski hits the jackpot in regards to the charismatic individuals he chose to document. There is Alien Ness, who hails from the Bronx and sees B-­‐boying as a way to steer his life away from his violent criminal past. In San Francisco we meet Machine, a skilled dancer who left his home in the South in pursuit of achieving something greater than his hometown could offer. Traveling to Los Angeles Pilichowski introduces us to 17 year-­‐old Casper, a Canadian born B-­‐boy whose family struggles are always on his mind as he chases after the bright lights of Hollywood. Lastly, we journey to Toronto where we meet Dyzee who wants to take a more positive approach to breaking while struggling to deal with an old “beef” that is becoming increasingly hostile.

Besides their love for breaking, each young man is bound by the struggles that they and their families have endured. Whether it was violence, poverty, or drug use, each individual has their own issues they are striving to overcome. Instead of dwelling on the hardships, Pilichowski focuses on the passion and overall drive to succeed that breaking has instilled in the B-­‐boys. It is also refreshing to see the strong family bonds that the B-­‐boys have with their loved ones. The positive support that their families offer only helps to make the viewer even more invested in the outcome of the King of the Ring tournament.

It should be noted that aside from the fascinating characters, Pilichowski brings a lot of style to the overall production. He adds another level of beauty to many of the already jaw-­‐dropping dance sequences. The King of the Ring tournament is filmed in a way that provides maximum intensity, and genuine surprise, to the proceedings. One can only hope that Pilichowski takes his visual flare and skilled storytelling abilities to other aspects of hip hop culture. There is no doubt that he could provide an unique take on something like the King of the Dot battle rap competitions that have taken Youtube by storm in recent years.

Regardless of what Pilichowski does next, he has a bright future ahead of him. All Out Waris an exceptional, and inspiring, film that perfectly captures the world of B-­‐boy culture unlike any other film.

This is not only one of the year’s hidden gems, but one of the best as well.

This article also ran on the following outlets:

http://elbo.ws/post/5003518/nxne-­‐review-­‐all-­‐out-­‐war/

AUX does NXNE: 10 movie hits, misses, and oddities Allan Tong

http://www.aux.tv/2013/06/aux-­‐does-­‐nxne-­‐film-­‐10-­‐films-­‐10-­‐reviews/

Most of the movies screening at NXNE are rock docs that profile an artist or a band in a flattering (i.e. hagiographical) light. Not so for All Out War; it’s a true film which follows four b-­‐boys as they travel across North America to compete in a breakdancing championship in Toronto. The goal? To vie for The King of The Ring.

Machine, Alien Ness, Dyzee and Casper are the four young men who carry that dream, and they hail from different parts of Canada and the U.S. One grew up in the tough housing projects of the Bronx, where desperation fuels his ambition “to be somebody”; a kid from L.A. wants to win to make up for his old man’s failed dreams of being a musician; the Torontonian b-­‐boy escaped into dancing to break a drug habit; and the most stable b-­‐boy teaches breakdancing in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Director Robert Pilichowski has an instinctive feel for the music and dance form, and his editing is stylized, yet disciplined.

He coaxes revealing interviews out of his subjects, and the dancing is superbly shot by Christopher Romeike—and whether you’re a fan of breakdancing or not, you will enjoy All Out War.

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