• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Newsletter
  • WatchDEHH

Dead End Rap

Dead End Hip Hop Test Site

  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Watch
  • Classic Reviews
  • Hip-Hop News
  • Listen
You are here: Home / Latest News / Unearthed Documentary 80 Blocks From Tiffany's To Be Re-Released After 25 Years

Unearthed Documentary 80 Blocks From Tiffany's To Be Re-Released After 25 Years

September 1, 2010 by deadendrap Leave a Comment

Five Day Weekend and Traffic Entertainment are proud to announce the upcoming DVD release of 80 Blocks From Tiffany’s, director Gary Weis‘ 1979 documentary about the South Bronx and its gang culture. The previously unavailable film will be released in the Fall of 2010, the first time it has been offered to the public in decades, and will be accompanied by a handful of exciting bonus features.

Director Gary Weis was still working as a short film creator for Saturday Night Live when he came up with the idea for 80 Blocks after reading a Jon Bradshaw article, “Savage Skulls.” Published in a 1977 issue of Esquire Magazine, the piece centered on two gangs based in the South Bronx at the time — the Savage Nomads and the Savage Skulls. Weis became infatuated with the story and, soon after striking up a dialogue with Bradshaw, he convinced SNL producer Lorne Michaels to help him produce the film. Just two years later, in 1979, Weis and Bradshaw brought a camera crew to speak with members of both gangs, along with police officers, community activists, and civilians.

Despite its role as an important and unflinching portrait of a profoundly interesting time in New York’s cultural history, 80 Blocks was, for many years, impossible to find, only briefly available as an educational VHS release in 1985. In the years since its initial release, the documentary has gained an overwhelming cult status. With little to no news coverage over the decades since its release dedicated fans continued to buzz about the film. That buzz grewexponentially via the internet, which provided fans a common platform to fondly look back not only the at documentary itself, but the era that it captured so vividly.

The cries of many have been heard. For the first time in 25 years, the soon-to-be-released DVD will be accessible by the public, and will include interviews with producer/filmmaker Weis and director of photography Joan Churchill, as well as a 40 page book comprised of the original “Savage Skulls” article, an essay by David Hollander, and artwork by Julian Allen. All of this is, of course, to accompany both full and widescreen versions of the film that started it all.

Filed Under: Latest News

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Verse of the Month: Lil Wayne, “Big Bad Wolf”
  • Pras Stars In Blacture Super Bowl Commercial
  • Weekly Dope v.86
  • Bankroll Fresh’s “Blow A Key” Released
  • Justin Timberlake Should Have Never Performed at Super Bowl LII

Recent Comments

  • Anthony on Articles
  • Tim Hill on Articles
  • Bryan on Videos
  • Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly Album Review | DEHH | Kushtube on Merchandise
  • Justin on Merchandise

Archives

  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • January 2000

Categories

  • Classic Reviews
  • Latest News
  • Reviews
  • Uncategorized
  • Watch
  • WatchDEHH

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in