American Street Kid

A man sets out to create a 2 minute PSA on homeless youth in the LA area, and ends up on a multi-year journey (while also working as a playwright and theater director) that becomes the feature length film we see. Along the journey he (filmmaker Michael Leoni) becomes very much involved in the lives of these youth, and as a consequence, very much a part of the film. This involvement gives insight to viewers that even so-called experts on the subject cannot have without spending time with the young subjects. He sees their struggles firsthand, sees the breakdowns at various levels when some try to improve their lives, and becomes a resource that many of them desperately need. His involvement adds immense value to the film, as he not only sees, but actually experiences, the failures in the system along with the subjects.

This is not a film for the faint of heart, as it is honest, and largely unfiltered. The young people who are the subjects of the film grow very comfortable with Michael over several years, and allow him to see and film things rarely caught on camera. However, this is not a film that in any way glorifies the behavior of it's subjects. It is one that attempts to show the struggles of these young people in a true light, the challenges they face, and ultimately discovers what may be the only way to solve this problem by finding out what these youth actually need.

I am hesitant to say this is the best documentary I have ever seen, because I watched it very recently so it is quite fresh in my mind, but it very well may be. Anyone who cares at all for their fellow people should see it, and may very well be inspired to get involved as a result.