When “Grafstract: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance” screens at the Bronx International Film Festival later this month, filmmaker Dan Perez will finally see his own work in the borough where he was born and lived for the first 27 years of his life.

“This feels really good, I really wanted this film to be in the Bronx festival,” said Perez, who now lives in South Florida.

The film follows several renowned street artists from the Bronx and Baltimore over four days as they painted walls in the Bronx, chronicling the “anarchistic” tradition of graffiti in the borough, and a shift toward more positive murals aimed at building up underserved neighborhoods.

“Street art has become such a phenomenon, in every part of the world you have your street art district,” Perez said. “In the ghettos of Mexico and Brazil, street art has helped turn the mentality of people in those communities around. In the Bronx I think it would be well-received–we’re still [holding on to the] badge as the birthplace of graffiti.”

Perez, who regularly scours Instagram for street art, is seeing a boom in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn but “rarely sees anything coming from the Bronx.” “They have their work cut out for them if this is a badge of honor they don’t want to relinquish,” he said.

With 70 films being shown over nine days, the 2016 Bronx International Film Festival is the largest and longest in the past 14 years, said festival co-founder and program director, Hector Olivieri.

Last year’s festival lasted for three days in two different locations. Olivieri said the extra days allow him to screen more films; there were 700 films submitted for the 2016 festival consideration.

And, unlike Perez’s short, many of the films in the festival are from filmmakers around the world who have no previous connection to the Bronx. Films, many of which are having their world premiere, are coming to the Bronx festival from Australia, France, Canada, China and Japan.

“A lot of the films have themes that I recognize having been born and raised in the Bronx. Others have nothing to do with that, but I still walk away with something,” Olivieri said. “It’s important to pick films that you walk away with something–and you may or may not like it. I don’t pick films with nice, happy Hollywood endings; we have plenty of that.”

“I believe there are movies and there are films, movies are black and white, films tend to live in the gray area. I like to pick films,” Olivieri added.

The Bronx International Film Festival runs from Jan. 22 to 31 at Lehman College. A festival pass is $30; a day pass is $7. More information and ticket sales at bronxstage.com.