The Homestretch
/Saturday, November 22nd - Wednesday, November 26th, 7:30pm
and Wednesday, November 26th at 4:30pm
The Homestretch
Anne de Mare and Kristen Kelly, 2014, 89 min.
The Homestretch follows three homeless teens as they fight to stay in school, graduate,and build a future. Each of these smart, ambitious teenagers - Roque, Kasey and Anthony - will surprise, inspire, and challenge audiences to rethink stereotypes of homelessness as they work to complete their education while facing the trauma of being alone and abandoned at an early age. Through haunting images, intimate scenes, and first-person narratives, these teens take us on their journeys of struggle and triumph. As their stories unfold, the film connects us deeply with larger issues of poverty, race, juvenile justice, immigration, foster care, and LGBTQ rights.
With unprecedented access into the Chicago Public Schools, The Night Ministry’s Crib emergency youth shelter and Teen Living Programs’ Belfort House, The Homestretch follows these kids as they move through the milestones of high school while navigating a landscape of couch hopping, emergency shelters, transitional homes, street families and a school system on the front lines of this crisis. The film, a co production between Spargel Productions and Kartemquin Films, examines the struggles these youth face in obtaining a high school level education, and then follows them beyond graduation to focus on the crucial transition when the structure of school vanishes and homeless youth struggle to find the support and community they need to survive and be independent. A powerful, original perspective on what it means to be young, homeless and building a future in America today.
The screening on Saturday, 11/22 at 7:30pm will be sponsored by the True Colors Fund and will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.
The screening on Sunday, 11/23 at 7:30pm will be sponsored by the Door and will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.
The screening on Monday, 11/24 at 7:30pm will be sponsored by Girls Educational & Mentoring Services (GEMS) and will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and representatives of GEMS.
The screening on Tuesday, 11/25 at 7:30pm will be sponsored by Coalition for Homeless and will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.
The screening on Wednesday, 11/26 at 4:30pm will be a youth focused screening in partnership with Maysles Education and will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/103951897
