Streetwise
Seattle, 1983. Taking their camera to the streets of what was supposedly America’s most livable city, filmmaker Martin Bell, photographer Mary Ellen Mark, and journalist Cheryl McCall set out to tell the stories of those society had left behind: homeless and runaway teenagers living on the city’s margins. Born from a Life magazine exposé by Mark and McCall, Streetwise follows an unforgettable group of at-risk children—including iron-willed fourteen-year-old Tiny, who would become the project’s most haunting and enduring figure, along with the pugnacious yet resourceful Rat and the affable drifter Dewayne—who, driven from their broken homes, survive by hustling, panhandling, and dumpster diving. Granted remarkable access to their world, the filmmakers craft a devastatingly frank, empathetic portrait of lost youth growing up far too soon in a world that has failed them.
Available In
Collector's Set
Collector's Set
Cast
- Alabama
- Featuring
- Annie
- Antoine
- Biker Kim
- Black Junior
- Breezy
- Buddha
- Butch
- Calvin
- Chrissie
- Dawn
- Dewayne
- Drugs
- Eddie
- Erica
- Erin (Tiny)
- Floyd
- J.R.
- James
- Jimi
- John
- Juan
- Justin
- Kevin
- Kim
- Lillie
- Lora Lee
- Lulu
- Melissa
- Michele
- Mike
- Munchkin
- Patrice
- Patti
- Peehole
- Rat
- Red Dog
- Roberta
- Russ
- Sam
- Shadow
- Shellie
- Smurf
- Sparkles
- Steve
- Tracy
- White Junior
- William
Credits
- Director
- Martin Bell
- Produced by
- Cheryl McCall
- Executive producers
- Angelika T. Saleh
- Connie Nelson
- Willie Nelson
- Edited by
- Nancy Baker
- Cinematography by
- Martin Bell
- Sound
- Keith Desmond
- Associate editor
- Jonathan Oppenheim
- Assistant editor
- Meredith Birdsall
- Sound editors
- Janet Swanson
- Jonathan Oppenheim
- Pola Rappaport
- Meredith Birdsall
- Camera assistants
- Douglas Pellegrino
- Eve Pellegrino
- Production assistants
- Diane Birdsall
- Jan Stone Hall
- Rerecording supervisor
- Dick Vorisek
- “Take Care of All My Children” and “Rat’s Theme” written and performed by
- Tom Waits
Trailer for Streetwise
