Who is Bozo Texino?
Shot on freight hopping trips across the wild West and 16 years in the making, this is the mostly-factual cinematic account of the epic search and unlikely discovery of hobohemia's most legendary boxcar artist.
WHO IS BOZO TEXINO?
the secret history of hobo graffiti
Directed, photographed, edited by Bill Daniel
2005, 56 min, B/W, 16mm and Super 8, mastered on Digibeta NTSC
Who is Bozo Texino? chronicles the search for the source of a ubiquitous and mythic rail graffiti-- a simple sketch of a character with an infinity-shaped hat and the scrawled moniker, "Bozo Texino"-- a drawing seen on railcars for over 80 years. Daniel's gritty black and white film uncovers a secret society and it's underground universe of hobo and railworker graffiti, and includes interviews with legendary boxcar artists, Coaltrain, Herby, Colossus of Roads, and The Rambler. Shooting over a 16-year period, Daniel rode freights across the West carrying a Super-8 sound camera and a 16mm Bolex. During his quest he discovered the roots of a folkloric tradition that has gone mostly unnoticed for a century. Taking inspiration from Beat artists Robert Frank and Jack Kerouac, the film functions as both a sub-cultural documentary and a stylized fable on wanderlust and outsider identity. "I was drawn to the subject by the universal graffiti impulse and the classic, corny notion of freight train blues escape." – BD
THIS SPECTACULAR TRAVEL ADVENTURE
FAITHFULLY PHOTOGRAHPED IN REALISTIC BLACK AND WHITE FILM AT CONSIDERABLE RISK FROM SPEEDING FREIGHT TRAINS AND IN SECRET HOBO JUNGLES IN THE DOGGED PURSUIT OF THE IMPOSSIBLY CONVOLUTED AND HERETOFORE UNTOLD HISTORY OF THE CENTURY-OLD FOLKLORIC PRACTICE KNOWN AS HOBO AND RAILWORKER GRAFFITI AND CHRONICLING THE ABSURD QUEST FOR THE TRUE IDENTITY OF RAILROADING'S GREATEST ARTIST WILL LIKELY AMUSE AND CONFOUND YOU IN ITS SINCERE ATTEMPT TO UNDERSTAND AND PRESERVE THIS MYSTERIOUS ARTFORM
"Bill Daniel's homegrown epic is as kinetic and raggedly beautiful as the trains he hopped to make it. Using the search for the origin of a near mythical example of railroad graffiti as a point of departure, Bill made a film about freedom as literal passage across the land. Corporations brand things to say they own them, but there are ways in which humans have marked things to say they can't be owned." -- Jem Cohen
" a hypnotic, rail-rattling tone poem of subversive wayfarer wisdom-- as revealed through the witty, artfull, unexpected delights of railroad graffiti." -- Sacramento News and Review
"…a gloriously rough-edged elegy for an America that is being swept away before our eyes.
Daniel's film manages a near-perfect union of radical form and radical content, in less than an hour manages to say more about life, art, America and the simple joy of filmmaking than most directors manage in decades. --Neil Young's Film Lounge
Cinematographic song of praise to the self-imposed life of a hobo. Using a 16mm and a Super8 camera, Bill Daniel collected images of the hobo subculture over a period of about 15 years. His years of roaming in goods trains brought him into contact with countless legendary hobos. Daniel links their stories and visions of life to their "tags", the signs they left on trains long before graffiti was any kind of a hype. The film focuses on the quest for the eminent Bozo Texino, whose tag decorated trains all over the country for 80 years. In beautiful black & white, to the rhythm of train wheels and country music, Daniel portrays passionate people who have turned away from the establishment and it's rules.
--- from the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
http://northbankfred.com/p_bill.html
http://www.sfbg.com/39/52/art_marks.htm
Screening History: "Who Is Bozo Texino?"
East Coast Premier: Deitch Projects, NYC
West Coast Premier: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Selected Festivals:
IFFR, Rotterdam
Viennale
Tromsø International Film Festival, Norway
Kino Otok, Isola, Slovenia
Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente
ICDOCS Film Festival, Iowa City, Iowa
PDX Film Festival, Portland, Oregon
Northwest Film Festival, Portland, Oregon
Bradford International Film Festival, England Tekfestival, Rome
Pesaro Film Festival, Rome
Inde Lisboa, Portugal
Partial screening list (most screenings were presented in-person)
2008
Espontánea Film Festival, Madrid, Spain
2007
Radical Book Fair, Baltimore, MD
Cinematheque, San Francisco, CA
Cinema Nova, Bruxelles, Belgium
Das Prekarium, Art-Transponder, Berlin, Germany
New Nothing Cinema, San Francisco, CA
AK Press warehouse, Oakland, CA
University of San Francisco
(Con)Temporary Gallery, Reno, NV
Hobo Film Fest, various cities in the U.S.
Mama Buzz, Oakland CA
Station 40, San Francisco, CA
Pageant Theater Chico, CA
Fools Foundation, Sacramento, CA
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV
The Applesauce Teahouse, Flagstaff, AZ
MOCA, Tucson, AZ
The Dome, Marfa, TX
Soundstage, Shreveport, LA
Sluggo's, Pensacola, FL
All Saints Cinema, Tallahassee, FL
Warphaus, Gainesville, FL
Athens Cine, Athens, GA
Dumpster Dive, Atlanta, GA
The Werehouse, Winston-Salem, NC
punk warehouse, Lynchburg
Cinema 1818, Baltimore, MD
The Space, Athens, OH
The Royale, St. Louis, MO
University of Dallas, TX
Dallas Video Festival, Dallas, TX
Rayko Photo Center, San Francisco, CA
Moose Lodge # 1735, Austin, TX
1919 Hemphill Collective, Ft. Worth, TX
2006
Het Wilde Weten, Rotterdam
het Buitenland, Amsterdam
University of the South, Sewanee, TN
Mini-cine, Shreveport, LA
Beerland, Austin, TX
house show, Huntsville TX,
Rubber Gloves Studio, Denton, TX
Railroad Blues, Alpine, TX
Harlow's, Albuquerque, NM
Backroads Pizza, Santa Fe, NM
Red Room Tucson, AZ
Hot Licks Bisbee, AZ
The Trunk Space, Phoenix, AZ
Le Stat's, San Diego, CA
The Smell, Los Angeles, CA
Lobot Warehouse, Oakland, CA
Take 5 Presents, Vancouver, BC
7 Dudley Cinema, Santa Monica, CA
Red Vic Movie House, San Francisco, CA
the former Breathing Space, West Oakland, CA
Portland State University, Portland, OR
WWU, ASP Films Bellingham, WA
Rung Theater, Georgetown, Seattle, WA
The Sunset Tavern, Ballard, Seattle, WA
Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA
Yes Yes Alliance, Olympia, WA
Liberty Hall, Portland, OR
Jawbreaker, Eugene, OR
La Casa Del Libro, San Francisco, CA
Other Cinema, San Francisco, CA
Coastside Film Society, Half Moon Bay, CA
Western Folklife Center, Elko, NV
The Pickle Co, Salt Lake City, UT
Westport Coffeehouse, Kansas City, MO
Lawrence Arts Ctr, Lawrence, KS
Rag Tag Cinema, Columbia, MO
Vaudeville Mews, Des Moines,
Bryant Lake Bowl, Minneapolis, MN
Darling Hall, Milwaukee, WI
The Spectacle, Madison, WI
Heartland Café, Chicago, IL
Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL
Surley Girl Saloon, Columbus, OH
Boxcar Books, Bloomington, IN
Bluish Barn, Ann Arbor, MI
Trumbullplex, Detroit Rock City, MI
Artcite, Windsor, ONT
Western Ontario University, London, ONT
Cinecycle, Toronto, ONT
Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY
Feed Your Head Books, Salem, MA
AS220, Providence, RI
Balagan, Boston, MA
Flywheel Arts, Easthampton, MA
Frontier, Brunswick, ME
Le Kop Shop, Montreal, QB.
Space Gallery, Portland, ME
Langdon St Café, Montpelier, VT
Bard College
Thursday Screeners, Syracuse, NY
Anthology Film Archives, NYC, NY
Lyceum Theater. Brooklyn, NY
Ithica College, Ithaca, NY
Adam Stab Presents, Baltimore, MD
Provisions Library, Washington, DC
The Bridge, Charlottesville, VA
Gallery 5, Richmond, VA,
Asheville Pizza and Brewery, Asheville, NC
The Pilotlight, Knoxville, TN
Tom Foote presents, Chattanooga, TN
Eyedrum, Atlanta, GA
Flicker Bar, Athens, GA
Sentient Bean, Savannah, GA
The Bottletree, Birmingham, AL
The End of the Line Café, Pensacola FLA
Nomad Nights, Ruston, LA
The Big Top, New Orleans, LA
Aurora Picture Show, Houston, TX
2005
Redcat Artspace, Los Angeles, CA
Deitch Projects, NYC, NY
Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco, CA
24/7 House, Columbus, OH
Beerland, Austin, TX
Guild Theater, Albuquerque, NM
Itl Coffee Shop, Tucson, AZ
The Red Light, Bisbee, AZ
New Image Arts, Los Angeles, CA
Buffalo Records, Ventura, CA
Mercury lounge, Goleta, CA
Echo Park Cinema, Los Angeles, CA
Anno Domini Gallery, San Jose, CA
Lobot Warehouse, West Oakland, CA
Other Cinema, San Francisco, CA
Port Townsend Community Center, Port Townsend, WA
Guemes Community Center, Guemes Island, WA
Guerilla Drive-In, Santa Cruz
Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA
Arts Warehouse, Eureka, CA
Museum of Unfine Art, Eugene, OR
Dept. of Safety, Anacortes, WA
50/50 Arts Collective, Victoria, BC
The Butchershop, Vancouver, BC
3B Tavern, Bellingham, WA
The Boiler Room, Port Townsend, WA
Yes Yes Alliance Olympia, WA
Central Cinema, Seattle, WA
Columbia Theatre, Astoria, OR
Diva Art Space, Eugene, OR
Kendrick House, Flagstaff, AZ
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
Satori Sound, Mobile, AL
Over the Transom, Fairhope, AL
Wayward Council, Gainseville, FL
The Pit, Jacksonville, FL
backyard show, Savannah, GA
The Creative Music and Film Society, Columbia, SC
Flying Brick House, Richmond, VA
Ottobar, Baltimore, MD
Pleasuredome, Toronto, ONT
Rooftop Films, Brooklyn NY,
Black Floor Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
ABC NO RIO, NYC, NY
The Sanctuary For Independent Media, Troy, NY
Jefferson Presents, Pittsburg, PA
Detroit Film Coalition, Detroit, MI
South Union Arts, Chicago, IL
The Belfry Center, Minneapolis, MN
Lawrence Community Art Center, Lawrence, KS
Galapagos, Brooklyn, NY
Lil Joe's, Shreveport, LA
Ruby Green Gallery, Nashville, TN
The Brickhouse, Louisville, KY
Satellite Ballroom, Charlottesville, VA
Paper Street Infoshop, Richmond, VA
40 Watt Club, Athens, GA
The Wedge, Asheville, NC
Blayloc Cafe, Durham, NC
Lump Gallery, Raleigh, NC
The Elsewhere, Greensboro, NC
Dunsmuir Community Center, Dunsmuir, CA
Hollywood Theatre, Portland, OR
Centenary College, Shreveport, LA
The Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, ONT
Zeitgeist, New Orleans, LA