Filmmaker Discovered These Facts About Homelessness Making Documentary
By Movieguide® Contributor
AMERICANS WITH NO ADDRESS producer Jennifer Stolo shared with Movieguide® what it took to create a documentary that highlights homelessness across America.
“The team took a bus tour for three weeks across the country to 20 major cities that had high levels of homelessness, across 18 states, and conducted a tremendous amount of interviews,” Stolo told Movieguide®. “Actually over 175 interviews with, you know, political leaders and nonprofit leaders and the medical field and just a full gamut, to really create an unbiased view of what the bleak realities of homeless look like.”
Through their research, the team learned that many organizations that are working to help.
“We found so many solutions, and it was just it was very uplifting and very hopeful to see how many amazing programs that are out there that are doing great work,” she said.
“I think the numbers themselves are staggering, you know?” Stolo added. “You know it’s out there, but when you really see it, you go down on skid row…and all of this. You know, 2.8 million individuals are homeless in our country, but I think what hurt my heart the most was that more than half of them are children.”
She continued, “That just that was just very difficult to see…just the innocence of a child and the situation of them being in that scenario, but then the hopeful side of these amazing organizations that create family shelters and supportive housing and just a road to recovery for so many people.”
More than a million homeless people in the United States lack basic needs, self-worth, medical care, and a sense of community. Each person has inherent dignity, because every person is created in God’s image. The government may have failed, but private citizens have rallied to answer the call. AMERICANS WITH NO ADDRESS stands apart because it lays out the need, while also highlighting some solutions. However, the movie has plenty of disturbing content about crime, poverty, substance abuse, and mental illness. Strong caution is advised for pre-teenage children.
READ MORE: AMERICANS WITH NO ADDRESS REVIEW
Stolo and her team also created a feature film inspired by the stories told in the documentary called NO ADDRESS.
“The stories inspired us, so while it’s a fictional feature film, it really is inspired by true events,” she said. NO ADDRESS will hit theaters nationwide on Feb. 28. “The goal for us is to showcase these stories that this could happen to anyone and…really garner that empathy and the compassion that we need to have around this situation.”
READ MORE: HOW THIS DOCUMENTARY CRUSHES MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT HOMELESSNESS
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