Cinema Arts Program: Hobo Graffiti August 23, 2008

Who is Bozo Texino? (2007, 58 min.), by Bill Daniel, chronicles the search for the source of a ubiquitous and mythic rail graffiti—a simple sketch of a character with an infinity-shaped hat and the scrawled moniker, "Bozo Texino"—a drawing seen on railcars for over 80 years. Daniel's gritty black and white film uncovers a secret society and its underground universe of hobo and railworker graffiti, and includes interviews with legendary boxcar artists Coaltrain, Herby, Colossus of Roads, and The Rambler. Shooting over a 16-year period, Daniel rode freights across the West carrying a Super-8 sound camera and a 16mm Bolex. During his quest, he discovered the roots of a folkloric tradition gone largely unnoticed for a century. Taking inspiration from Beat artists Robert Frank and Jack Kerouac, the film functions as both a sub-cultural documentary and a stylized fable on wanderlust and outsider identity.

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