Nov 9 | 7:00pm
@ OCAD University
Sliding scale $5-15
(no one turned away for lack of funds)

Filmmaker Elegance Bratton begins Pier Kids with a title card that reads: “In the wake of the Stonewall Riots of 1969, the world cheered the advancement of white queers and ignored the fates of queer people of color.” Centering the experiences and point of view of homeless queer and trans youth of colour, Bratton’s film foregrounds protagonists, whose lives parallel the vitality and resiliance of the original Stonewall rebellion leaders, without flinching away from the precarity of their circumstances.

Pier Kids is a treasure of local history as the documentary’s subjects provide an account of life on the margins of historic Christopher Street in New York City. The protagonists detail their strategies for survival, unique chosen relationships, and their ability to make something out of nothing.

The film offers a searing indictment of an LGBTQ+ rights movement that discards the most vulnerable people on the way to empowerment and inclusion: those who should be its beneficiaries are left behind to be preyed upon, harassed, and disappeared.

Pier Kids foregrounds the strength and fire of its protagonists, allowing them to speak for themselves as they navigate no-win scenarios and manage risks with clarity and courage.

Bratton himself lived on the streets for years after his family kicked him out of the house at 16 for being gay, and his empathy for those featured in the film is abundantly apparent.