Friday 20th June 2008 saw Festival Square, Edinburgh transformed into an enormous technicolor homage to graffiti, breakdancing and hip hop culture to mark the UK premiere of film The Wackness at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

A giant screen spanning the square and measuring 15x3 metres was covered in a graffiti to make a technicolor New York cityscape around images of the film’s stars Ben Kingsley and Josh Peck. The mural also incorporated free artistic contributions made by the general public.

The Square, adjecent to EIFF headquarters at the Filmhouse on Lothian Road in the Capital, was also filled with the sound of vintage 90’s hip-hop which pounded from a ghetto-blaster whilst award-winning break-dancers Psycho Stylez showed off some moves.

The Wackness, set in early 90’s New York, is an authentic, uncompromising and unapologetic depiction of street culture in a city on the verge of change at the hands of Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Dope-dealing schoolkid Luke (Josh Peck) and his domestically dysfunctional hash-smoking psychiatrist Dr Squires (Ben Kingsley) are two characters on the verge of a breakdown who forge an unlikely friendship.

Read our critic’s review of the film: http://www.list.co.uk/article/9262-the-wackness/

The Wackness opens across the UK on 29 August.