There’s this new film out that you should watch. Directed by Vancouver’s Eileen Yaghoobian, Died Young Stayed Pretty is an exclusive glimpse into the art subculture of rock poster production.

“DIED YOUNG, STAYED PRETTY is a candid look at the renaissance of North America’s underground, indie-rock poster movement spurred by the unexpected launch of groupie Clayton Hayes’ web portal Gigposters.com. Picking up where punk left off, this documentary reveals a new breed of counter-culturists that set out to destroy the mainstream through their controversial and intensely visceral design work.

Under the guise of advertising for rocks shows, these unheralded masters of the silkscreen and Xerox machine carry on public discourses that range from hot button political issues to lewd inside jokes. Stealing from the golden era of Americana, they pervert classic pop culture references and slap it in the face of polite society while safely treading under the radar.

DIED YOUNG, STAYED PRETTY offers a look at some of the giants of this modern subculture, some who go for broke to maintain their creative workshops while others have found tremendous commercial success, including Art Chantry, Brian Chippendale, the Ames Brothers, Jeff Kleinsmith, Jay Ryan, Print Mafia and Rob Jones. Yaghoobian sneaks her lens into the lives of these self-professed radicals to discover where the real punk power lies, if any remains.”

DYSP is a thoroughly enjoyable film. It pulls back the curtain on poster production in the same way that Helvetica did for type design in 2007. It also raises important questions about the role of the poster in modern society. Are posters the new punk rock, or are they a meaningless pastiche of haphazardly selected cultural signifiers? Regardless of your stance, Died Young Stayed Pretty provides a unique view into the world of the independent poster maker and should give viewers a better idea of the effort that goes into making gig posters and of the motivations behind them.