CAN ART STOP A BULLET: William Kelly's Big Picture
New Releases
•
1h 33m
William Kelly, widely considered the social conscience of Australian art, once said: “Art can’t stop a bullet, but it can stop a bullet from being fired.”
Can it?
Filmed on five continents, with contributions from over 20 artists, thinkers and activists, this documentary explores the power of art to influence the violence in the world.
The film documents the creation of Kelly’s monumental artwork “Peace or War/ The Big Picture”.
It is a tapestry of history and art, drawn from major artworks and photos from the defining conflicts of their times. This immense visual collage allows the audience to navigate through time and place, meeting survivors of these horrific moments in history and the artists who have created work commenting on these periods, some of which have become iconic.
Through Kelly’s drawings, the audience is transported to the concentration camps of the Third Reich, the bombing of Hiroshima, “the troubles” in Ireland, the race riots in the US and Pol Pot’s Year Zero. Interwoven with archival footage of these cataclysmic events, the audience is invited to visit anti-war and anti-gun demonstrations today, events that call for similar injustices to be stopped.
The film is a parallel work to Kelly’s enduring masterpiece, unfolding to create the ‘Big Picture’ in documentary form.
Up Next in New Releases
-
Silent Cries / Kiayunik Tuhanak
"It happened every year during long weekends in September. That's when all the planes, little planes start flying around Nunavut and NWT (North-Western Territory) collecting kids at camps. As soon as you hear that plane coming around you know what was gonna happen, some of them hide, run away… Bu...
-
Arkadaşloch - Nobody's Problem
“Arkadaşloch – Nobody’s Problem” is an essay documentary film which tells the story of Özgür Kal who was deported from Germany to Turkey, and depicts his self-transformation from being the poster-child of failed integration to becoming a family-oriented business owner in Antalya. Based on Nilay K...
-
Innovation in Action - Northern Socia...
Communities in Canada’s North are currently facing substantial challenges. The social economy offers tools to help these communities face these challenges. The Social Economy Research Network of Northern Canada was a network of university and college-based researchers and representatives of commu...