“The Homestretch,” Anne De Mare and Kirsten Kelly’s acclaimed documentary about three homeless Chicago teenagers, returns to the Gene Siskel Film Center for a week-long run during National Homeless Youth Awareness Month, starting Friday, November 21st. Screenings in Los Angeles and New York City are scheduled for that weekend as well, while the film will launch on iTunes and Amazon platforms on Tuesday, November 25th. The picture will air on PBS in April 2015 and is the latest production from Kartemquin Films, the same company behind landmark documentaries like “Hoop Dreams,” “The Interrupters” and “Life Itself.”
Get Siskel Center tickets here.
Synopsis: Three homeless Chicago teenagers seasoned by rejection and life on the streets defy the odds to create a future, finding sympathy and support in surprising places. The filmmakers follow aspiring actor Roque, poet/painter Kasey, and Anthony, a rapper, poet and entrepreneur, into the haunting underworld of children cast off by broken or unfit families and left alone to navigate the perils of poverty and predation. As the three tenaciously fight for an education and eventual independence, the film powerfully explores surrounding issues of race, juvenile justice, immigration, foster care, and LGBTQ rights.
From Glenn Kenny’s review of the film: “‘The Homestretch’ invites you to empathize with its subjects, to worry with them, to laugh with them, to worry about them. It’s engaging and compelling viewing.“
For the full list of venues where “The Homestretch” is currently scheduled to screen, visit the film’s official site. Below are a sampling of the picture’s theatrical bookings.
NOV 11
Oakland, CA: New Parkway Theater
NOV 14
St. Louis, MO: Brown Hall, Washington University
St. Louis International Film Festival, Opening Night Film—Human Rights Spotlight
NOV 14-20
Cupertino, CA: Blue Light Cinemas
NOV 19 & 20
Clovis, CA: Sierra Vista Cinemas
NOV 21-26
Chicago, IL: Gene Siskel Film Center
Los Angeles, CA: Downtown Independent
NOV 22-26
New York, NY: Maysles Cinema
Note: A very small grant to assist in the post production of this film was given by The Ebert Foundation through Good Pitch Chicago, a 501(c)(3) organization that helps in raising funds for socially impactful films.
The Homestretch (trailer) from spargel productions on Vimeo.
