How This Documentary Crushes Misconceptions About Homelessness
By Movieguide® Contributor
Director Julia Verdin has one goal for her latest film, AMERICANS WITH NO ADDRESS: to break the mold of how people think about homelessness.
“We wanted to show the spectrum of the different types of individuals that ended up on the streets,” she told The Wrap. “Because one thing that struck me and one of the reasons why I wanted to make this is that there’s a general perception that everybody on the streets are drug addicts or have mental issues. And that is just not true. There are a lot of regular people on the streets who, just through bad circumstances, [like] not being able to keep up with the rent, have ended up there.”
“Our goal with the film is to share our learnings with the audience because I learned more than I ever thought I would,” Verdin added. “I had no idea of the complexity of this problem. I hope that what we learned will be helpful to others.”
READ MORE: DIRECTOR PRAYS ANTI-TRAFFICKING MOVIE WILL ‘SAVE TEENAGERS’
William Baldwin stars in AMERICANS WITH NO ADDRESS and credits several nonprofit organizations for their “remarkable work” bringing awareness to homelessness.
“Where people have to get hip to and accepting is that the only way we’re going to resolve this is looking at it more as a mental health crisis rather than a homelessness crisis,” he said.
Movieguide® praised the documentary’s strong Christian worldview:
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: THE DOCUMENTARY 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: THE DOCUMENTARY REVIEW
The documentary comes from Robert Craig Films as a companion piece to their feature NO ADDRESS. The team has three outcomes they want to see from the projects: “raise awareness, build empathy, and create a call to action for everyone in this country to work more closely with nonprofit organizations that already provide real solutions to the problem.”
“The team envisions how those experiencing homelessness will become better equipped with the proper support to heal and begin a new journey with the comfort of a home, job stability, and a supportive community,” the website explains.
AMERICANS WITH NO ADDRESS is available to watch online on Fandango or Paramount+.
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