An autobiographical documentary in which the filmmaker uses his elaborate decision-making process about whether or not to get a tattoo as a jumping-off point for a larger discussion of youth, rebellion, and regret. As he interviews those who tattoo, who are tattooed, and who are firmly opposed to the tattoo, other issues of social class, art, and self-esteem arise in this humorous exploration of the need to be permanently marked.
"The urge to ornament one's face and everything within reach is the very origin of visual arts. It is the babbling of painting." — Adolf Loos
SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS
Hoopes Prize for Scholarly Work, Harvard University, 2001
Boston University American Studies Film Festival, 2002
Humboldt International Short Film Festival, 2002
First Look Student Film Festival, 2002
Carleton College Film Festival, 2002
Boston Cinema Census, Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, MA, 2002
Louisville Independent Film Festival, 2002
Chairman's Award, Ivy Film Festival, 2002
Northeastern Anthropological Association Ethnographic Film & Video Festival, Lake Placid, NY, 2005
American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Washington DC, 2005
broadcast, Denmark National Television, August, 2005