FFWD (Calgary's News and Entertainment Weekly)
FIVE SIDES OF A COIN
Directed by Paul Kell
Friday April 16, 9:30 p.m.
By Jason Lewis

This insightful documentary succeeds on two levels. As a hip-hop history primer, 
it traces the connection between break dancing, street grafitti and turntablism 
in New York City in the mid-to-late-'70s. As a critical look at the state of the 
hip-hop nation, it polls artists from all over the world. From the genesis of the 
term hip-hop to the ever-expanding musical scene, Five Sides of a Coin boasts 
interviews with veterans Michael Franti, Phase 2 and Afrika Bambaataa along 
side artists from the next wave such as DJ Vadim and DJ Shadow. Not content 
to rest on the fame of its subjects, the film is a well-organized, finely tuned 
testament to the power of hip-hop that provides not only history, but context.