Non/Fiction
NON/FICTION
Compelling and provocative, these contemporary docs encourage viewers to see the world through a different lens.
THE PINE BARRENS
DAVID SCOTT KESSLER | USA | 2019 | 104 MIN | NR
November 20 | 7:00 PM | Philadelphia Film Center
After countless years of fundraisers and preview screenings for his ambitious project, The Pine Barrens, local filmmaker David Kessler has finally completed (for now) his epic “tone-poem.” The film explores the expansive Pines as one of the last true mysteries in America’s terrain. Each exquisitely composed shot introduces visually eye-popping independent ecosystems that have remained untouched by the encroaching world of modern highways and sprawling duplexes. Thought to be completely uninhabitable (due, in no small part, to Jersey Devil lore), the Pine Barrens are nonetheless home to small communities who choose to live off the map. As these inhabitants share their stories by bonfire, Kessler captures the ruminations, both mundane and profound. But when the inevitable intrusion of a pipeline threatens their well-being, the communities must band together to uphold the legacy of such a special place. Featuring an equally eerie and beautiful score from local musicians The Ruins of Friendship Orchestra, The Pine Barrens is a magical look into a world untouched.
STREETWISE + TINY: THE LIFE OF ERIN BLACKWELL
December 18 | 7:00 PM | Philadelphia Film Center
A collaboration between filmmaker Martin Bell, journalist Cheryl McCall, and photographer Mary Ellen Mark, the Oscar-nominated documentary Streetwise combines probing, clear-eyed insight with a hauntingly poetic visual style to tell the stories of several homeless and runaway kids including charismatic 14-year-old prostitute Tiny. But Tiny’s story does not end on the streets of Seattle. Fast forward almost two decades as filmmaker Martin Bell and photographer Mary Ellen Mark continue to track her harrowing life from scrappy street kid to world-weary, middle-aged mother of ten in their companion piece, Tiny: The Life of Erin Blackwell.
STREETWISE | 7:00 PM
MARTIN BELL | USA | 1984 | 91 MIN
TINY: THE LIFE OF ERIN BLACKWELL | 8:45 PM
MARTIN BELL | USA | 2016 | 87 MIN