MVFF44 (Bronze/Silver)

The French artist known as JR has called the street “the largest art gallery in the world,” and his work is all about communities—uniting them, connecting them to the larger world, and lending dignity and visibility to the unseen. Cineastes will recall his collaboration with Agnès Varda in 2017’s delightful Faces Places (Mind the Gap Gold Award, MVFF 2017). Others were already familiar with his often startling public art projects, in sites from Paris to Times Square to the West Bank. This documentary follows the impish artiste, perpetually in shades and pork pie hat, through several characteristically provocative yet accessible endeavors: one at a Texas maximum-security prison, another in a violence-riddled Rio favela, and so forth. Whether subtly commenting on border politics or societal inequity, his giant photographic blowups and other images affirm the humanity of subjects too often ignored or stereotyped. Paper & Glue is a disarming portrait of non-didactic, often temporary art serving to validate and inspire.