Helvetica (film)
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| Helvetica | |
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| Directed by | Gary Hustwit |
| Produced by | Gary Hustwit Swiss Dots Veer |
| Editing by | Shelby Siegel Laura Weinberg |
| Release date(s) | March 13, 2007 |
| Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Official website | |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Helvetica is an independent feature-length documentary film about typography and graphic design, centred around the typeface of the same name. Directed by Gary Hustwit, it was released in 2007 to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the typeface's introduction in 1957. Its content consists of a history of the typeface interspersed with candid interviews with leading graphic and type designers, including Wim Crouwel, Michael Bierut, Erik Spiekermann, and Massimo Vignelli. The film aims to show Helvetica's beauty and ubiquity, and illuminate the personalities that are behind typefaces. It also explores the rift between modernists and postmodernists, with the latter expressing and explaining their criticisms of the famous typeface.
Helvetica premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2007. The film toured around the world for screenings in selected venues, such as the IFC Center in New York, the Institute of Contemporary Arts London, and the Roxie Cinema in San Francisco. Helvetica was nominated for the 2007 Independent Spirit's Truer than Fiction Award.
Bands and musicians that contributed to the documentary's soundtrack include Four Tet, The Album Leaf, Kim Hiorthøy, Battles, Sam Prekop of The Sea and Cake, and little-known Los Angeles-based instrumental rock twosome El Ten Eleven.
An edited version of the film was broadcast on BBC One in November 2007, as part of Alan Yentob's Imagine series.
The film was released on DVD in November 2007 by Plexifilm.
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