STREETWISE + TINY: THE LIFE OF ERIN BLACKWELL
STREETWISE (7:00 PM)
MARTIN BELL | USA | 1984 | 91 MIN | NR
Presented in a new restoration, this classic, Oscar-nominated documentary immerses viewers in the lives of a group of homeless and runaway kids living on the streets of Seattle. A collaboration between filmmaker Martin Bell, journalist Cheryl McCall, and photographer Mary Ellen Mark, STREETWISE combines probing, clear-eyed insight with a hauntingly poetic visual style to tell the stories of subjects like charismatic 14-year-old prostitute Tiny, lovable drifter DeWayne, and self-appointed protector Lulu. Resorting to desperate, often shocking measures to survive in a harsh world, these young people nevertheless find moments of companionship, acceptance, and love in their makeshift street families.
“By capturing an unflattering aspect of the American dream with style and class, the documentary succeeds on all accounts, allowing Streetwise to become an ageless film that should never be lost to time.” –The Playlist
TINY: THE LIFE OF ERIN BLACKWELL (8:45 PM)
MARTIN BELL | USA | 2016 | 87 MIN | NR
For decades after collaborating on their landmark documentary STREETWISE, filmmaker Martin Bell and photographer Mary Ellen Mark continued to track the life of the film’s most indelible subject: Erin “Tiny” Blackwell. The result is this remarkable portrait, which captures Erin at various stages in her transition from scrappy street kid to world-weary, middle-aged mother of ten. Though she managed to escape the harrowing circumstances depicted in STREETWISE, the ensuing decades of Erin’s life were no less full of hardship. TINY: THE LIFE OF ERIN BLACKWELL is a painfully intimate yet sweeping look at the way poverty, addiction, and trauma have affected multiple generations of one American family.
“The combination of Streetwise and Tiny belongs on a short list with Boyhood, the Up documentaries, and Hoop Dreams as exemplars of time-capsule filmmaking.” –The New York Times
This Double Feature is part of the Philadelphia Film Society’s NON/FICTION series.