Planet B-Boy (2007)

Director:

Benson Lee

Release Date:

21 March 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | History | Music

Tagline:

Breakdancing has evolved

Plot:

Jumping continents and crossing cultures, "Planet B-Boy" looks at the history of breakdancing and its vibrant resurgence in urban cultures around the world.

Plot Keywords:

B Boy | Dance | Breakdancing | Urban | International

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Mr. Freeze	...	Mr. Freeze
Luis Mateo	...	Trac2
Skwall	...	Himself
Prince Ken Swift	...	Ken Swift
Knucklehead Zoo	...	Themselves

Directed by
Benson Lee

Produced by
Thomas Hergenrother	....	co-producer
Danny Huang	....	executive producer
Benson Lee	....	producer
Johnny Lee	....	executive producer
Amy Lo	....	producer
Manahi Taber-Kewene	....	associate producer
Alex Valente	....	associate producer
Mike Zandlo	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Woody Pak		(original music by)

Cinematography by
Vasco Nunes

Film Editing by
Benson Lee
Jeff Marcello

Production Management
Thibault Dufour	....	production manager
Geoffrey Greer	....	post-production manager
Kellie Hotema	....	production manager
Nari Eunice Kim	....	production manager (as Nari Kim)
Jeff Marcello	....	post-production supervisor
Kozo Okumura	....	production manager
Dae Gyun Sohn	....	production manager (as Xris Sohn)

Sound Department
Paul Bercovitch	....	sound mixer
Paul Bercovitch	....	sound re-recording mixer
Force Theory	....	sound designer
Michael Furjanic	....	supervising sound editor
James Nichols	....	sound consultant: Dolby
Tony Volante	....	sound re-recording mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Christo Bakalov	....	additional photography
Gregor Grieshaber	....	camera assistant
Benson Lee	....	additional photography
Benson Lee	....	still photographer
Jae Hyuk Lee	....	additional photography
Vasco Nunes	....	still photographer
Hiroo Takaoka	....	additional photography
Mike Zandlo	....	additional photography (as Michael Zandlo)

Editorial Department
Maya Bakshani	....	post-production intern
Andrew Becker	....	associate editor
Stephanie A. Bello	....	post-production intern
Jeff Bistrong	....	post-production intern
Joe Carroll	....	assistant editor
Sabrina Chemloul	....	associate editor
Calvin Choi	....	associate editor
Chi Yoon Chung	....	associate editor (as Chi-Yoon Chung)
Sophia Coaxum	....	second assistant editor
Meghan Devine	....	associate editor
Aziza Elkhati	....	post-production intern
William J. Holden	....	second assistant editor
Maria Juranovic	....	second assistant editor
Christina Kim	....	editorial translator
Silvia Kim	....	post-production intern
Eugene Kolb	....	post-production intern
Elisa Y. Lee	....	second assistant editor
Michael Lindo	....	post-production intern
George Manolo	....	post-production intern
David Panfili	....	assistant editor
Jane Tolmachyov	....	color correction
Hyun-Joon Yoon	....	assistant editor
So Young Yoo	....	second assistant editor
Christin Yu	....	post-production intern
Jesse Zakarin	....	post-production intern
Mike Zandlo	....	co-editor (as Michael Zandlo)

Music Department
Jim Black	....	music supervisor
Willard Dyson	....	musician: drums
G.I. Joe	....	musician
Ilya Eli Lishinsky	....	music recording engineer
Mowg	....	composer: additional music
Hutson Rapier	....	music editor
Hutson Rapier	....	music mixer

Other crew
Nanae Abe	....	translator
Sam Young An	....	subtitler
Shinobu Azuma	....	translator
Yumi Bae	....	production assistant
Helen Cho	....	translator
Jenn Chung	....	translator
Marie-Pierre Cravedi	....	translator
Nina Diedrich	....	production assistant
Aaron Dunsay	....	subtitler
Jillian Elizabeth	....	archival researcher (as Jillian E. O'Connor)
Yasmine Ghoraschi	....	production assistant
Jin Gwon	....	transcriber
Randy Havens	....	translator
Masaaki Hidaka	....	translator
Brian Hulse	....	production assistant
Jason Huynh	....	transcriber (as Jason Hyunh)
Miyako Inoue-Herrera	....	translator
Timothy Kang	....	translator
Mitsumi Kawamura	....	translator
Sung-Un Kim	....	transcriber
Gloria Lee	....	translator
Sanghyun Lee	....	transcriber
David Magdael	....	publicist
Hideyuki Mako	....	production assistant
Emma Mankey Hidem	....	transcriber
Yuko Sanaga McHugh	....	translator
Amber Minogue	....	production assistant
Angela Moon	....	transcriber
Mika Mori	....	transcriber
Mark Moskowitz	....	accountant
Tyler Neuendorffer	....	digitizing
Yujin Nomura	....	subtitler
Dan O'Meara	....	sales representative
David Panfili	....	assistant: producer and director
Otto Porrazzo	....	insurance broker
German Ramos	....	archival photos
Koe Rodriguez	....	archival photos
Mel Rosenthal	....	archival photos
Yukiko Sato	....	translator
Robert L. Seigel	....	production legal services
Jamel Shabazz	....	archival photos
Nahoko Sugiyama	....	translator
Joung Hee Sup	....	production assistant
Mari Takeuchi	....	subtitler
Sho Tsuchiya	....	transcriber
Dan Weaver	....	translator
Eduardo Wong	....	digitizing
Young S. Yang	....	transcriber
Soo-Jin Yun	....	transcriber
Anne Stulz	....	publicist (uncredited)

Thanks
Travis Call	....	special thanks
Yamiah Kaliz Concepcion	....	in memory of
Blake McKenzie Rapier	....	in memory of

Production Companies

• Mondo Paradiso Films

Distributors

• Gravitas Ventures (2008) (USA) (TV) (VOD)
• Elephant Eye Films (2008) (USA) (theatrical) (sales)
• Madman Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Mongrel Media (2008) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Sogecable (2008) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Intercontinental (2008) (Hong Kong) (all media)
• Madman Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (all media)
• Madman Entertainment (2008) (New Zealand) (all media)
• Sogecable (2008) (Spain) (all media)

Other Companies

• Blink Entertainment  marketing and promotion
• Film Emporium  insurance by
• Soundtrack  trailer

Runtime:

USA:95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

USA:Unrated | South Korea:All | Australia:M

Company:

Mondo Paradiso Films

Movie Connections:

Features Graffiti Rock (1984) (TV)

Soundtrack:

When It's On It's On

B-Boying all over the world

This documentary focuses on five of the finalist teams sent to the Battle of the Year in Germany, an international b-boy ("breakdancing") competition where the world's best b-boy team is crowned. For the uninitiated, the doc starts with an overview of hip-hop and b-boying in particular as one of the four legs of hip-hop culture (tagging, scratching, rapping and b-boying) along with its evolution. Then we taken into an overview of the Battle of the Year competition.

After that lightning-fast introduction, the documentary settles on the five teams: Phase-T representing France, Ichigeki representing Japan, Knucklehead Zoo representing the USA and two teams, Gamblerz and Last for One, representing South Corea. Featuring a number of interviews with the various team members as well as dance sequences in a number of attractive backdrops, the doc settles in on three stories prominently, one about the little white kid member of the mostly North African adult team of Phase-T and his hobby overcoming his parents' racism as well as two stories within Ichigeki and Last for One dealing with strained relationships between disapproving fathers and sons eager to win over their fathers' admiration.

Finally, the doc gets to the Battle of the Year, where individual stories are cut against the teams as they prepare for the big competition and finally an extended showcase from the Battle of the Year. The film does a good job of building up the story so that when it unleashes the dance competition at the end, you're anticipating it. The individual stories, especially of Last for One and Ichigeki especially cause you to root for those two teams and it was harder to build sympathy for the other teams.

Those that don't enjoy the dancing might find this film more tedious, but the explanation of b-boying and the various stylistic differences between the countries that are explained helped give something to look for during the competition and the exploratory dance sequences. Planet B-Boy stands somewhere between, depending on your perspective, being a puff piece and an enthusiastic glance into the world of b-boying internationally. This is not a sociological study of influence of hip-hop internationally and is very much focused on five teams and the Battle of the Year competition.

All in all, the doc is enjoyable, even if a little light, and helped me get a better understanding of b-boying. I wish it was more in-depth, either into the history and world of b-boying or into the stories of each crew, but it already had enough packed into its relatively tight 101-minute running time. Recommended for the curious, for hip-hop lovers, for dance lovers, for people interested in transnational cultural exchange and, surprisingly, sports fans. 8/10.