Pier Kids

Last updated
Pier Kids
Directed by Elegance Bratton
Production
company
Freedom Principle [1]
Release date
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$150,000 [2]

Pier Kids is a 2019 American documentary film first shown at Outfest 2019. [3] The film follows three young queer and transgender New Yorkers who frequent the Christopher Street Pier in Manhattan. [3] The film was directed by Elegance Bratton. [4] The film premiered on POV on PBS on August 2, 2021. [5]

Contents

Plot

Pier Kids explores the lives of Black, homeless queer and trans youth who call the Christopher Street Pier in NYC their home. [1] It was filmed over five years, taking place mainly in 2011, 2012, and three years later in 2016. [3] The youth are interviewed over these years to show how time and experience changes. The movie shines a light on how queer people of color utilize spaces to create a chosen family, as well as highlights the police presence in a community that relies on sex work for their main form of income. [5]

Distribution

The movie premiered in Los Angeles as part of Outfest 2019. [3] It was later acquired by PBS' documentary series POV to start showing August 2, 2021. [1] [5]

Reception

Henry Giardina of Into says "These stories aren't easy to watch, but Pier Kids must be seen." [5] [6] Eric Langberg of Queer Review says "Sometimes the film's stark portrayal of sex work, fear of HIV, and general life on the street is reminiscent of Larry Clark's Kids , except Pier Kids doesn't sensationalize a single moment or use any of it for shock value the way the fictionalized Kids did." [5]

Accolades

YearAwardCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
2022 GLAAD Media Awards Outstanding Documentary Pier KidsNominated [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenni Olson</span> American filmmaker

Jenni Olson is a writer, archivist, historian, consultant, and non-fiction filmmaker based in Berkeley, California. She co-founded the pioneering LGBT website PlanetOut.com. Her two feature-length essay films — The Joy of Life (2005) and The Royal Road (2015) — premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Her work as an experimental filmmaker and her expansive personal collection of LGBTQ film prints and memorabilia were acquired in April 2020 by the Harvard Film Archive, and her reflection on the last 30 years of LGBT film history was published as a chapter in The Oxford Handbook of Queer Cinema from Oxford University Press in 2021. In 2020, she was named to the Out Magazine Out 100 list. In 2021, she was recognized with the prestigious Special TEDDY Award at the Berlin Film Festival. She also campaigned to have a barrier erected on the Golden Gate Bridge to prevent suicides.

Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival, the New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival, and the Inside Out Film and Video Festival, in launching the North American Queer Festival Alliance, an initiative to further publicize and promote LGBT film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Schwarz</span> American filmmaker

Jeffrey Schwarz is an American Emmy Award-winning film producer, director, and editor. He is known for an extensive body of documentary work including Commitment to Life, Boulevard! A Hollywood Story, The Fabulous Allan Carr, Tab Hunter Confidential, I Am Divine, Vito, Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon and Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World of Wonder (company)</span> American production company

World of Wonder Productions is an American production company founded in 1991 by filmmakers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey. Based in Los Angeles, California, the company specializes in documentary television and film productions with a key focus on LGBTQ topics. Together, Barbato and Bailey have produced programming through World of Wonder for HBO, Bravo, HGTV, Showtime, BBC, Netflix, MTV and VH1, with credits including the Million Dollar Listing docuseries, RuPaul's Drag Race, and the documentary films The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000) and Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures (2016).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT representation in children's television</span> Aspect of childrens television

LGBT representation in children's television is representation of LGBT topics, themes, and people in television programming meant for children. LGBT representation in children's programming was often uncommon to non-existent for much of television's history up to the 2010s, but has significantly increased since then.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Allen Harris</span>

Thomas Allen Harris is a critically acclaimed, interdisciplinary artist who explores family, identity, and spirituality in a participatory practice. Since 1990, Harris has remixed archives from multiple origins throughout his work, challenging hierarchy within historical narratives through the use of pioneering documentary and research methodologies that center vernacular image and collaboration. He is currently working on a new television show, Family Pictures USA, which takes a radical look at neighborhoods and cities of the United States through the lens of family photographs, collaborative performances, and personal testimony sourced from their communities..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vivian Kleiman</span> American documentary film producer

Vivian Kleiman is a Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker. She has received a National Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Research and executive produced an Academy Award nominated documentary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elegance Bratton</span> American filmmaker and photographer

Elegance Bratton is an American filmmaker and photographer. He began his career in the 2010s, writing, directing, and producing a variety of projects including the short film Walk for Me, the reality television series My House, and the documentary film Pier Kids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GagaOOLala</span> Video on demand service specializing in LGBT content

GagaOOLala is a Taiwan-based worldwide subscription video on demand service, specializing in uncensored LGBT-related films, LGBT made-for television films and contemporary LGBT television drama series. It has partnered with Japanese-based Line TV, initially in Thailand, and then across Asia, to provide the service with GagaOOLala-made TV series. GagaOOLala is owned by Portico Media, whose also carried pay TV channels for Taiwan cable TV provider along with Chunghwa Telecom's MOD platform.

<i>Circus of Books</i> (film) 2019 documentary film

Circus of Books is a 2019 American documentary film directed by Rachel Mason, written by Rachel Mason and Kathryn Robson and starring Karen Mason, Barry Mason and Rachel Mason. The premise revolves around Circus of Books, a bookstore and gay pornography shop in West Hollywood, California, and in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles.

For many years, LGBT representation has increased on animated series and animated films. In the 1990s, LGBT characters were depicted in animated series like South Park, The Ambiguously Gay Duo, and The Simpsons. In the early 2000s, LGBT representation increased in Western animation, culminating in GLAAD's "Where We Are in TV" report in 2005, even as representation was disparate. In the 2000s, series like Queer Duck, The Oblongs, The Venture Bros., Drawn Together, and Archer aired. It would not be until the advent of shows like Steven Universe, The Legend of Korra, and Adventure Time in the 2010s, that LGBT characters in animation would gain more of a prominent role, leading to shows such as She-Ra and the Princesses of Power in 2018 and Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts in 2020, along with other series in the 2020s.

Gossamer Folds is a 2020 American drama film directed by Lisa Donato and starring Alexandra Grey and Jackson Robert Scott. Yeardley Smith serves as one of the producers of the film. It is Donato's directorial feature debut.

<i>Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street</i> 2019 American documentary film

Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street is a 2019 American documentary film directed by Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen. It examines the legacy of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, the second installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series, and the life of the film's lead actor, Mark Patton. In particular, Freddy's Revenge has garnered a reputation for its homoerotic themes and subject material, which affected Patton, who was closeted at the time of the film's production.

<i>Cured</i> (film) 2020 American documentary film

Cured is an American documentary film, directed by Bennett Singer and Patrick Sammon and released in 2020. The film depicts the inner workings of the campaign that led to homosexuality being delisted from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1973.

Netflix has contributed substantially to LGBTQ representation in animation. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual and transgender characters have appeared in various animated series, and some animated films, on the streaming platform. GLAAD described Netflix as a company taking "impressive strides in viewership and impact," when it came to LGBTQ representation. Scholars have stated that LGBTQ characters on streaming services, such as Netflix, "made more displays of affection" than on broadcast networks.

<i>The Inspection</i> 2022 American film

The Inspection is a 2022 American drama film written and directed by Elegance Bratton. Inspired by Bratton's real-life experiences, the film follows a young gay black man who defiantly endures brutal training at a Marine Corps boot camp, seeking approval from his homophobic mother. It stars Jeremy Pope, Raúl Castillo, McCaul Lombardi, Aaron Dominguez, Nicholas Logan, Eman Esfandi, Andrew Kai, Aubrey Joseph, Bokeem Woodbine, and Gabrielle Union.

<i>TransMilitary</i> 2018 film directed by Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson

TransMilitary is a 2018 American documentary film directed by Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson, about transgender service members fighting to serve openly in the U.S. military. The film premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in 2018, and was released in the United States on January 8, 2019.

This article features the history of the representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) characters in animated productions under The Walt Disney Company, including films from the studios Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar, and programming from the Disney Branded Television channels as well as the streaming service Disney+. From 1983 onward, Disney struggled with LGBTQ representation in their animated series, and their content often included LGBT stereotypes or the content was censored in series such as Blazing Dragons. Some creators have also criticized Disney studio executives of cutting LGBTQ scenes from their shows in the past, or criticized that their shows were not seen as part of the "Disney brand", like The Owl House.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hipes, Patrick (April 22, 2021). "Elegance Bratton's Pier Kids Documentary Lands U.S. Deal With POV". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  2. Boone, John (December 13, 2022). "Elegance Bratton Is Ready to Formally Introduce Himself With 'The Inspection' (Exclusive)". Oscars.org. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Uhlich, Keith (July 22, 2019). "Pier Kids: Film Review Outfest 2019". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  4. Cohn, Gabe (August 2, 2021). "What's on TV This Week: An Obama Documentary and 'Shiva Baby'". The New York Times . Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Knight, Christina (July 27, 2021). "Christopher Street Pier "Kids" in Documentary". THIRTEEN - New York Public Media. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  6. Giardina, Henry (July 21, 2021). ""Pier Kids", the Must-See Doc About Queer Life on Christopher Street, Comes to PBS". Into . Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  7. "The Nominees for the 33rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards". GLAAD. 2022-01-21. Retrieved 2022-01-22.