Glad to know that this project, which we last wrote about in mid-2011, is finally getting a theatrical release!

Charlie Ahearn’s documentary on the work, life and times of photographer/”urban life” documenter, Jamel Shabazz, titled Jamel Shabazz Street Photographer, will see a 1-week theatrical run at BAMCinématek in Brooklyn, New York, courtesy of APD’s Cinema Conservancy program.

Playdates are also expected for Chicago, Portland, Seattle & San Francisco.

In the infancy of hip-hop, Brooklyn-born photographer Jamel Shabazz documented the pioneers of music and style that would launch a worldwide phenomenon. Charlie Ahearn, director of the seminal Wild Style, pays tribute to both Shabazz and those who defined hip-hop before it had a definition. 

More than just vintage shots of kids rocking Puma Suedes, Kangols, and pin-striped Jordaches in Times Square and Fort Greene Park, Shabazz’s photographs have hundreds of (often times tragic) stories behind them, and Ahearn gives voice to these images with dozens of interviews with Shabazz himself, graffiti pioneer and hip-hop historian Fred “Fab 5 Freddy” Brathwaite, legendary rapper KRS-One (both Brooklynites), and many more.

The film will open at BAMcinemaFest on August 2nd, and will run through the 8th.

There will be an Opening night Q & A session, reception and book signing with Jamel Shabazz himself, as well as director Charlie Ahearn and Fab 5 Freddy.

Other special guests include Bobbito Garcia and Dave “Chino” Villorente, who has designed a limited edition poster for the release.

And in conjunction with the screening, BAMcinemaFest will present an exhibition of Shabazz’s photographs, some of which appear in the documentary.

Watch the preview trailer below:

“Jamel Shabazz: Street Photographer” Documentary Trailer from Kenzo Digital on Vimeo.