“Hope on the Street” – an artist’s vital search for his roots

Documentary and original soundtrack by j-hope of BTS, available on Prime and TVING.

j-hope’s new documentary Hope on the Street and its accompanying original soundtrack, Hope on the Street Vol. 1, mark a new high for the rapper, dancer, and member of the South Korean band BTS. Directed by Park Jun Soo, the six-part series, released on March 27, is an aesthetic and narrative triumph.

Created by j-hope as a final project before enlisting in the military to fulfill his mandatory service, Hope on the Street follows his quest to reconnect with his dancing roots after a decade of building a musical career as a member of BTS. To do this, j-hope calls on one of his first teachers, Boogaloo Kin (Kim Haknam), a South Korean dance champion, to guide him and help him connect with some of the best street dancers and teachers around the world. 

In their journey, j-hope and Boogaloo Kin explore a style of street dance in five different cities: Popping in Osaka, locking in Seoul, house in Paris, hip hop in New York, and finally, a return to Neuron, the dance crew he studied with in his teens in his native city, Gwangju. Throughout, Boogaloo Kin accompanies j-hope as a friend, dance teacher and life mentor. 

Bill Cunningham New York: “He Who Seeks Beauty, Will Find It”

Bill Cunningham New York

Bill Cunningham New York is a small documentary, its subject deceptively small as well. Mr. Cunningham is a fashion photographer in New York. At the time the documentary was made he was 81 years old. For over three decades, he has biked around the city, photographing fashion and street life. He has two columns in the New York Times, one about street fashion and the other about social life in New York.