Urban Scrawl

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a documentary about 1,000 journals being filled with words, art, and ephemera by strangers around the globe might be a black hole of a cliché collapsing in on itself.

Catch the humanity behind the paradox when the film 1000 Journals. Inspired by graffiti on bathroom walls and similar scrawlings across San Francisco, artist Someguy (a.k.a. Brian Singer) scrounged up 1,000 blank journals and inscribed the following inside them: “This is an experiment and you are part of it. Add anything you like, then pass it on.” In 2000, Singer gave some to friends, co-workers, and strangers, and left others around town on park benches, on the bus, and in other public places. In 2003, one journal finally made its way back into Singer’s hands. Director Andrea Kreuzhage traces the journeys of the other 999 journals in the movie.

Sun., Feb. 22, 1 p.m., 2009