I witness: the art of George Gittoes (D)

Australian artist, photographer and writer George Gittoes reflects the darker side of human nature in his paintings, the evil side which many artists are unwilling to acknowledge or address. In his own words “the story is more important than the drawing”. A deeply religious and spiritual person Gittoes has traversed the world and all its horrific wars including Rwanda, Bosnia, Vietnam, Northern Ireland and the Middle East. He admits he is not interested in national boundaries only that he is totally passionate in his hatred of human violence and war. This revealing and often confronting documentary follows his journey to China during the 1998 floods where we see him as a street artist capturing the lives of ordinary Chinese citizens as they go about their daily lives; travelling down the great Yangtze River to the construction site of the Three Gorges Dam; and at work in his Beijing studio. Throughout the film which is interspersed with images of a variety of his works, Gittoes talks about his life, his family, his philosophy on humanity and the stories behind each of the paintings portrayed in this program. This is one artist who is not afraid to push the boundaries. NB: CONTAINS SEVERAL DISTURBING IMAGES OF WAR AND ITS VICTIMS.