David Anthony "Tony" Silver (April 15, 1935 – February 1, 2008) was an American documentary filmmaker known for directing the film ''

Style Wars ''Style Wars'' is a 1983 American documentary film on hip hop culture, directed by Tony Silver and produced in collaboration with Henry Chalfant. The film has an emphasis on graffiti, although bboying and rapping are covered to a lesser extent ...

''.

Biography

Silver born David Anthony Silver in Manhattan on April 15, 1935. He attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

as a

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

scholar. He was a maker of trailers and other promotional materials for movies and television, including a trailer for

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...

's ''Platoon'', which won a

Clio Award The Clio Awards, also simply known as The Clios, is an annual award program that recognizes innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication, as judged by an international panel of advertising professionals. The awar ...

in 1986. He directed the 1983 documentary ''Style Wars'', one of the earliest accounts of hip-hop culture that documented the lives of subway graffiti artists in New York City during the early 1980s. The movie won the Grand Jury Prize at the United States Film and Video Festival, a precursor to the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. Silver also made the documentary ''Marshall Arisman: Facing the Audience,'' about the artist Marshall Arisman. Silver died at his home in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on February 1, 2008. He married film producer and later acting chairman of the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

Joan Shigekawa. Their daughter is Mariko Silver, former president of

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont, United States. Founded as a women’s college in 1932,

and CEO of the Henry Luce Foundation.

References

1935 births 2008 deaths American documentary filmmakers {{DEFAULTSORT:Silver, Tony Columbia University alumni American directors Filmmakers from New York (state)