Milwaukee Film is staging a 4-day film festival focusing on Documentary films and conversations afterwards with the Dialogues Documentary Festival. It’s probably no coincidence that the film festival is occupying the former slot that was previously occupied by the long running Milwaukee Film Festival in early Fall. The major difference being that their goal is more than showing films, it’s to spark conversations.
First up for me was BEYOND THE BRIDGE: SOLUTIONS TO HOMELESSNESS.
First, it’s important to point out the key differences between this documentary and other documentaries that point out the problems with homelessness. This one does more than point out the problems and tragedies of being homeless in America, it wants to highlight policies that appear to be working to reduce homelessness. Albeit sprinkled with some root causes.
In particular, the filmmakers champion a policy of “housing first” which is claimed to have an 80 to 90% long term success rate when implemented properly. Houston and Milwaukee are cited as two cities that have successfully implemented the program. The basic tenets is to supply subsidized housing, the tenant has to pay 30% rent, support services are provided, and the program doesn’t require the tenant to be perfect, but rather do basic things like pay your rent, and don’t violate common lease terms. The shelter system is basically derided as an expensive band-aid that does nothing to address root causes.
The case they make is fairly compelling. Just providing a homeless person a place to live isn’t going to fix a root cause like dealing with addiction, mental illness like paranoid schizophrenia, or veterans with PTSD. And a lot of the step by step programs ask for people to become a saint overnight, set standards higher than the average person, and then act surprised when the root causes aren’t magically fixed and they have to kick them out again. The film bolsters its case with individual success stories and treats its subjects like individuals deserving of dignity.
Less successful, is that the film is framed by two of the filmmakers, Don Sawyer the producer and director and Tim Hashko, the cinematographer and editor, in a car traveling across America basically talking to the Audience. I know voiceover narration is frequently seen as a crutch, but the “conversations” aren’t particularly compelling and the visuals are dead boring in these segments. They try something here. Unfortunately it doesn’t work. And it serves to disrupt any momentum the film is developing. Which is too bad as you can’t help but appreciate their earnestness.
That’s kind of the essential issue here, the message is compelling and important. The presentation often doesn’t rise to the occasion. A little more polish would be welcome here to do justice to the message.
The 2024 Dialogues Documentary Film Festival is running from September 26 to 29, 2024. Further information on the festival, films, and purchasing tickets can be found at Milwaukee Film’s website.
