Streetwise (1984 film)

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).
Streetwise portrays the lives of nine teenagers living on the streets of Seattle, Washington. Rat, the dumpster diver; Tiny, the teenage prostitute; Shellie, the baby-faced one; and DeWayne, the hustler, with a considerable portion of the film focusing 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 her alcoholic mother, Pat, who seems unfazed by her daughter's prostitution, calling it a "phase".
According to Mark's accompanying 1985 book, also titled Streetwise, McCall and Mark traveled to Seattle, Washington specifically to reveal homelessness in a city that billed itself as "America's most liveable city." After making connections with several homeless youth during the writing of the article, Mark convinced Bell that the youth were worthy of a documentary based on their lives. The film was funded by singer Willie Nelson.
Principal photography took place from Labor Day to Halloween, 1983, with a final day on August 24, 1984.
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.
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.
On November 20, 2013, Mary Ellen Mark and Martin Bell launched the Streetwise: Tiny Revisited film project on Kickstarter. 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 her family over the 30+ years since Streetwise.
A book was published in conjunction with the sequel. 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.
The character Rat'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 fucking 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), "Unknown Summer" by Burial (2023), "Learn to Fly" by Priori and Sabola (2024), 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). English electronic-duo Jadu Heart sampled Streetwise dialogue in their album Hyper Romance.