Streetwise (1984)
This documentary about teenagers living on the streets in Seattle began as a magazine article. The film follows nine teenagers who discuss how they live by panhandling, prostitution, and petty theft.
Top billed cast
Erin BlackwellSelf
Dewayne PomeroySelf
Roberta Joseph HayesSelf
Lulu CouchSelf
Reed EarlySelf- Patrice PittsSelf
- RatSelf
Similar to Streetwise
Matter of Time (2025)
Eddie Vedder's soul-stirring Seattle benefit concert fuels this documentary about the race to cure the rare genetic disorder epidermolysis bullosa (EB).
Bus 174 (2002)
Documentary depicts what happened in Rio de Janeiro on June 12th 2000, when bus 174 was taken by an armed young man, threatening to shoot all the passengers. Transmitted live on all Brazilian TV networks, this shocking and tragic-ending event became one of violence's most shocking portraits, and one of the scariest examples of police incompetence and abuse in recent years.
Teen Exorcists (2013)
They are young, all-American girls who enjoy horse riding, karate and Sherlock Holmes. But there's more to Brynne, Tess and Savannah than wholesome pursuits - they're exorcists. The girls believe much of the world's population is possessed by evil spirits which are causing addiction, depression and suffering. In a fight against the devil's army, they have been touring America performing public exorcisms on their believers. Now they are taking the fight to a city they think of as one of the most spiritually corrupt in the world - London. But what will Brits make of these evangelical American exorcists?
Lost for Life (2013)
A documentary about juveniles who are serving life in prison without parole and their victims' families.
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (2003)
A homeless musician finds meaning in his life when he starts a friendship with dozens of parrots.
Outside (2018)
The film explores the turbulent lives of homeless persons in Cologne, Germany. Through their personal belongings the homeless share with the viewer their memories and emotions, and provide insight into the secrets of survival on the street.
Richard Hugo: Kicking the Loose Gravel Home (1976)
Filmed on location in Montana and Washington State, this 1976 biography of poet and teacher Richard Hugo features readings of some of his most famous poems as well as interviews with his family and friends.
The Salt Mines (1990)
Explores the lives of Sara, Gigi and Giovanna, three Latino transvestites who for years have lived on the streets of Manhattan supporting their drug addictions through prostitution. They made their temporary home inside broken garbage trucks that the Sanitation Department keeps next to the salt deposits used in the winter to melt the snow. The three friends share the place known as "The Salt Mines".
Grunge: A Story of Music and Rage (2021)
An extension of punk and the fury of the 70s, Grunge was built on the impossibility of living in this world without transforming it. On a categorical refusal to collaborate and the need to create your own rules. The subculture as a refuge. Grunge was a secret movement, a piracy that should never have become popular. A bubble whose epilogue was played out in 3 years, between 1991 and 1994. What happened to this rage?
No Country for the Poor (2017)
What if democracy fails citizens by not serving them all equally? What if inequality becomes the norm and the most vulnerable citizens are left behind with no money, no home, no rights, and no country of their own? In Hungary, the government has slashed social benefits and criminalized homelessness, but a group of activists, homeless and middle class, is confronting authorities to defend social justice and their right to be citizens. After the tragic death of two of its founding members, the group feels that Hungary is growing more hostile and their struggle is more important than ever. Despite all odds, their own community keeps them going—a mini-society with democracy and solidarity at its heart, an island of hope, belonging and dignity in a society gradually shifting the other way.
American Teen (2008)
A documentary on seniors at a high school in a small Indiana town and their various cliques.
49 Up (2006)
49 Up is the seventh film in a series of landmark documentaries that began 42 years ago when UK-based Granada's World in Action team, inspired by the Jesuit maxim "Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man," interviewed a diverse group of seven-year-old children from all over England, asking them about their lives and their dreams for the future. Michael Apted, a researcher for the original film, has returned to interview the "children" every seven years since, at ages 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and now again at age 49.In this latest chapter, more life-changing decisions are revealed, more shocking announcements made and more of the original group take part than ever before, speaking out on a variety of subjects including love, marriage, career, class and prejudice.
Dark Days (2000)
A cinematic portrait of the homeless population who live permanently in the underground tunnels of New York City.
Lead Me Home (2021)
Poignant stories of homelessness on the West Coast of the US frame this cinematic portrait of a surging humanitarian crisis.
Baggages (2017)
This documentary focuses on immigrant teens between the ages of 12 and 17 who share the story of their migration and their adaption to life in Canada through theatre. Young but wise, these children describe their experiences with emotion and authenticity.
S.P.I.T.: Squeegee Punks In Traffic (2001)
We follow Roach, a 17-year-old ex-junkie and squeegee punk living on the streets of Toronto and Montreal. As part of the filmmaking process, he's been given a camera to document his world. The footage he gets is urgent, because there's a war against squeegee kids. This documentary is from the point of view of the kids themselves, in order to provide alternative voices. Roach's camera is positioned behind "enemy" lines: living in derelict buildings, squeegeeing for money, being hunted by police.
Hype! (1996)
This documentary examines the Seattle scene as it became the focus of a merging of punk rock, heavy metal, and innovation. Building from the grass roots, self-promoted and self-recorded until break-out success of bands like Nirvana brought the record industry to the Pacific Northwest, a phenomenon was born.
Petit Rempart (2025)
Mariem, 53, a former estate agent, has been living at a shelter for several months. Surrounded by women in far more precarious circumstances than herself, she tries to regard her unprecedented social downfall as an immersion in real life. By the time she leaves, Mariem’s view of the world will have changed forever, enriched by all the women she has met along the way.
The Fight for the Soul of Portland (2021)
As Rose City grapples with continued vandalism and homelessness, businesses are hurting and boarded up amid a global pandemic. What can be done to bring Portland back?
Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003)
British documentarian Nick Broomfield creates a follow-up piece to his 1992 documentary of the serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a highway prostitute who was convicted of killing six men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Interviewing an increasingly mentally unstable Wuornos, Broomfield captures the distorted mind of a murderer whom the state of Florida deems of sound mind -- and therefore fit to execute. Throughout the film, Broomfield includes footage of his testimony at Wuornos' trial.