Cheryl Dunn is an American documentary filmmaker and photographer.[1] She has made two feature films, Everybody Street (2013) and Moments Like This Never Last (2020). She has had three books of photographs published: Bicycle Gangs of New York (2005), Some Kinda Vocation (2007) and Festivals are Good (2015).
After moving to New York City in the mid 1980s, Dunn spent a large part of her career documenting city streets and the people who leave their mark there: graffiti writers, artists, skaters, boxers, bikers, protesters, and assorted characters. In the late 1990s she began to focus on filmmaking, creating films about artists of her generation who have influenced urban life through their own work.
Her films have played at film festivals including, Tribeca, Edinburgh, Rotterdam, Hotdocs, Los Angeles, Havana, and on PBS.[3]
She was one of the subjects in the documentary, book, and traveling museum exhibition Beautiful Losers.
Her documentary film Everybody Street (2013) about photographers who have used New York City streets as a major subject in their work. The film includes Bruce Davidson, Jill Freedman, Joel Meyerowitz, Bruce Gilden, Mary Ellen Mark, Jamel Shabazz, Ricky Powell, Martha Cooper, Elliot Erwitt, Rebecca Lepkoff, Boogie, Clayton Patterson, Jeff Mermelstein with Max Kozloff and Lucy Sante.[5]Everybody Street world-premiered at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto in spring 2013. It was since shown at Seaport Museum of New York, NY, 2010;[1]Format International Photography Festival, Derby, UK, 2011; Tate Modern London, July 2011; HotDocs, Canadian International Documentary Film Festival, 2013;[5] T-Mobile New Horizons Film Festival, Wroclaw, Poland, 2013; Raindance Film Festival, London, 2013;[2] FOAM Unseen Festival, Amsterdam, 2013; Atlanta Celebrates Photography, Atlanta, 2013; Independent Photography Festival, Melbourne, 2013; Raindance International Film Festival, Berlin, 2013; Nitehawk Cinema, New York, 2013; Cinefamily, Los Angeles, 2013; Miami Street Photography Festival, Miami, 2013; Miami Beach Cinematheque, Miami, 2013; ARTEFIERA at Cineteca Bologna, Bologna, Italy, 2014; Los Angeles Center of Photography (LACP), Los Angeles, 2014; ICA, London, 2014;[6] Gene Siskel Theater, Chicago, 2014; FilmBar, Phoenix, 2014; Rialto Theater, Amsterdam, 2014; Hollywood Theatre Portland, 2014; The Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield, UK, 2014; Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, Toronto, 2014; Salem Film Festival, Salem, 2014; Kentucky Museum of Art & Culture, Louisville, 2014; EPOS International Art Film Festival, Tel Aviv, 2014; Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, 2014.
Her second documentary film, Moments Like This Never Last (2020) about Dash Snow, a graffiti writer and downtown artist. The film includes Jeffrey Deitch, Leo Fitzpatrick, Blair Hanson, Ryan McGinley, David Rimanelli, Neville Wakefield. Moments Like This Never Last world-premiered at DOC NYC, 2020 it was released in theaters August 20, 2021 and released for online streaming September 3, 2021.
Sped. Shown at Moving Pictures. Dagkrant – 26th International Film Festival Rotterdam 1997; Raygun screening Los Angeles, CA Feb 18, 1997; Edinburgh International Film Fest Scotland 8-1999, 8–2001.[7]
Peace Consideration Community. Shown at Mirror ball Endinberg International Film Fest & Pre-feature presentations throughout the UK 1999; Warchild Benefit for the Yugoslavian refugee Program, 1999.[7]