Homelessness Documentary

As part of our research into the issue of homelessness i look on YouTube for related documentaries about those who have been or are currently homeless themselves. I came across this short interview with a teenage boy who ran away from home and lived on the streets;

One particular part of the interview which i thought was of great value to own teaser trailer was when he talks about the homelessness had on him;

“I used to sleep a bench … all I did was just wander about not speaking to anyone, just wandering about, not doing anything, not looking after myself. I was filthy, I was dirty, I was ill. I was always coughing and sneezing and I was really thin”

The result of ill health could be incorporated into our coursework by having a few shots of our protagonist coughing to represent the illness he has encountered living on the streets. We always need to ensure that the actress we use should be thin to make it seem authentic that she has been homeless for a long period of time.

However, another part of the documentary I thought was very interesting was when he talks about other homeless people he made friends with while living on the streets;

“The misconception of homeless people is just down and out. Just really really dirty, have nothing to say, alcoholics, druggies, drug addicts. But they weren’t, these people were lovely people”

When creating the spider diagram about homelessness I feel we stuck to closely to the modern stereotype and outsiders point of view of homeless people. After hearing about people struggling with the issue from a person who has faced homelessness themselves, it has made us realise that in order to create a true social realist film we need to do further research into what living on the streets is like from a homeless person's point of view.