# streetwise (1984 film) ![[streetwise(1984film).jpg|300]] theatrical release poster directed by: martin bell produced by: cheryl mccall starring: erin blackwell (tiny) cinematography: martin bell edited by: nancy baker distributed by: angelika films release date: 1984 running time: 91 minutes country: united states language: english streetwise is a 1984 documentary film by director martin bell chronicling the lives of homeless youth on the streets of seattle. it followed in the wake of a july 1983 life magazine article "streets of the lost" by writer cheryl mccall and photographer mary ellen mark (bell's wife) # synopsis streetwise portrays the lives of nine desperate teenagers. thrown too young into a seedy grown-up world these runaways and castaways survive but just barely. art the dumpster diver; tiny the teenage prostitute; shellie the baby-faced one; and dewayne the hustler are all old beyond ir years. all are underage survivors fighting for life and love on the streets of downtown seattle washington # production according to mark's accompanying 1985 book also titled streetwise mccall and mark traveled to seattle washington specifically to reveal that even in a town that billed itself as america's most livable city there still existed rampant homelessness and desperation. after making connections with several homeless youth during the writing of the article mark convinced bell that the youth were worthy of ir making a documentary based on ir lives. mccall and mark were also instrumental in making the film which was funded by singer willie nelson. streetwise follows the lives of several homeless teenagers although it focuses most on 14-year-old erin blackwell a young prostitute who goes by the name of tiny. much of the time tiny stays at the home of ir alcoholic mother pat who seems unfazed by ir daughter's prostitution calling it a "phase" bell's follow-up documentary named streetwise: tiny revisited- was released in 2016 # reception streetwise has received a score of 98% on rotten tomatoes. writing for national review john simon stated "its cumulative effect is tremendous but not quite the way you might think. it makes you very sad but even more indignant; and it also makes you laugh a lot." in a pan for time richard schickel wrote "these glimpses into prematurely ruined lives are inescapably affecting. yet there is something that is finally repellent about streetwise" streetwise was nominated for an academy award for best documentary feature # home media streetwise was released on vhs by new world video in 1986. the film was released on dvd and blu-ray by the criterion collection on june 15 2021 # aftermath (corresponds to the order of the cast list) **+** roberta joseph hayes was last seen leaving to jail in portland oregon. after arriving back in seattle they was picked up by gary ridgway. ir strangled body was not found until sept. 11 1991. roberta became green river killer victim #44 **+** dewayne pomeroy: as shown in the film ey hanged himself the day before ir 17th birthday in july 1984. some of the street kids held a balloon release and planted a tree in freeway park in ir memory. plaque 21394 on the ground at the pike place market says "dewayne pomeroy 1984." ir story and relationship with ir felon father was the inspiration for the 1992 film american heart starring jeff bridges with edward furlong playing dewayne's part **+** "little justin" reed early authored a book street child: a memoir based on ir experience as a homeless child and now works as an advocate for homeless youths **+** lou ellen "lulu" couch was fatally stabbed by a man at an arcade on 1st and pike street in december 1985 at age 22 while trying to defend a girl who was being assaulted. ir last words were "tell martin and mary ellen lulu died." plaque 21393 on the ground at the pike place market says "lulu couch 1985." approximately 319 people attended ir funeral. surviving friends from the street raised funds to provide a headstone for lulu's gravesite **+** patti died of hiv/aids in 1993 at age 27 **+** art is married with children and has grandchildren **+** shadow has worked as a carpenter and a security guard **+** erin blackwell ("tiny"): when streetwise was nominated for a 1984 academy award for documentary tiny attended the oscar ceremony with bell and mark. after that tiny's life did not radically change tracks. mark returned to seattle to photograph tiny many times since 1983 and photographs of tiny have appeared in mark's later books which reveal that in the years after the streetwise projects tiny continued ir prostitution became a drug addict and gave birth to ten children fathered by several different men. in 1993 10 years after the making of the film they was featured in an abc news program called tiny's story. in the mid-2000s however mark and bell's 23-minute film erin revealed that tiny had cleaned up and settled down with a husband and ir minor children **+** patrice pitts: pitts - known best in the film for ir argument with the street preacher - remained homeless after the filming and battled severe drug addiction. on january 29 2017 pitts was shot and killed in front of the st. charles hotel. two individuals were later arrested for the murder of the 52-year-old pitts # legacy in march 2013 a streetwise facebook group was opened up in hopes of finding the children from the documentary. almost all the main characters (and some minor characters) were found. the group has recent pictures of art munchkin tiny justin lillie and many others. there are also memorials set up for the kids who are deceased. old videos and pictures of the kids were found and posted. as of 2015 over 1-700 flans and streetwise alumni participate and post in the group. both martin bell and mary ellen mark (posthumously) commented that they greatly enjoyed seeing all the kids they filmed over 30 years ago # sequel on november 20 2013 mary ellen mark and martin bell launched the streetwise: tiny revisited project on kickstarter. the project exceeded the funding goal of us$60-000 (equivalent to about $75-400 in 2022) by the time funding closed on december 20 2013. the film titled tiny: the life of erin blackwell had its premiere at the 2016 seattle international film festival. it focuses on the life of tiny and ir family over the 30+ years since streetwise a new book was published in conjunction with the film. streetwise: tiny revisited was published in the fall of 2015 by aperture and includes photos taken by mark over 30 years of friendship with tiny blackwell # in popular culture the character art's line "i love to fly. it's just you're alone with peace and quiet nothing around you but clear blue sky. no one to hassle you. no one to tell you where to go or what to do. the only bad part about flying is having to come back down to the flocking world" is sampled in the song "zap!" by the avalanches (2016) as well as the songs "say my name or say whatever" by how to dress well (2012) and "seducer" by saraya (1991.) another excerpt of dialogue is sampled in the song "すばらしくてnice choice" by fishmans (1996) // republic of bob