Dreamcatcher (2015)

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Movie
German title Dreamcatcher
Original title Dreamcatcher
Country of production United Kingdom ,
United States
original language English
Publishing year 2015
length 97 minutes
Rod
Director Kim Longinotto
script Kim Longinotto
production Teddy Leifer
Lisa Stevens
music Stuart Earl
camera Kim Longinotto
cut Οllie Ηuddleston

Dreamcatcher is a 2015 British - American documentary directed by British filmmaker Kim Longinotto . The focus is on the former prostitute Brenda Myers-Powell, who volunteers with the help of the Dreamcatcher Foundation , which she co-founded, supports young women in Chicago in getting out of prostitution or trying to prevent them. The film has been shown at several US and European documentary film festivals and was one of the winners of the renowned Sundance Film Festival in 2015 .

content

Life of Brenda Myers-Powell

The film gives viewers a deep insight into essential stages of Brenda Myers-Powell's life: her path into prostitution, her drug addiction and the recruitment of young girls for sex work, her exit and her current private life.

Brenda's work for the Dreamcatcher Foundation

The focus, however, is on Brenda's work for her Dreamcatcher Foundation, which offers help with getting out of prostitution and wants to protect young women at risk from joining.

Numerous sequences show Brenda in conversation with those affected:

  • At night she offers prostitutes condoms on the street and invites them to talk about their situation in the minibus in which she drives through Chicago with her colleague Stephanie Daniels-Wilson . In doing so, she reveals a lot about her own life, does not teach, but patiently makes offers.
  • The audience witnesses discussion groups in prisons that Brenda leads for prostitutes who have committed offenses. They say that they have experienced severe violence and neglect from early childhood and that no one, not even their mothers, came to their aid. Brenda repeatedly and very emphatically assures the young women that they are not to blame for their situation (“It's not your fault!”), And thus strengthens their self-esteem .
  • Over several meetings, the film accompanies Brenda in a discussion group with a group of endangered high school girls. Social misery, the role of parents, drugs, and early pregnancies are addressed, but not as an accusation:

"With warmth and humor, Brenda gives hope to those who have none."

- Dogwoof, world distributor of Dreamcatcher
  • The camera also follows Brenda into the family of one of the high school girls who now lives with his boyfriend, but still takes care of his ten siblings every day, who live with their mother in a half-empty apartment.

title

Several times it is shown how Brenda asks young women what dreams they have and what they lack for a good life. The answers - an apartment, a job - show that these people care about meeting basic needs. With Brenda helping her, she became, so it was said in a film review, the dream catcher from the film title.

Narrative structure and perspective

Brenda Myers-Powell does not tell her life story chronologically and does not address the audience, but rather the young women in the film who report similar experiences. This is how she connects to them. Occasionally, for example when describing her fear of the upcoming knee operation, she also speaks to herself.

To a large extent , the film follows the perspective of its female protagonists , who report on the use of physical and psychological violence by men - “the Chicago of the film is a world of baby daddies and violent pimps” (the Chicago shown in the film is a world of fathers who do not care for their children, and violent pimps). The appearance of Brenda's former pimp Homer, who has since left the red-light district and works with Brenda, tries to prevent black and white painting: it becomes clear that he too was a victim. But when asked by a young woman in the film, he replies that he hardly regrets anything in his life.

History of origin

The producer Lisa Stevens came into contact with Stephanie Daniels-Wilson, the collaborator of Brenda Myers-Powell , while working on the documentary Crackhouse USA (2010). Lisa Stevens, who had recognized the strengths of the characters and their stories, stayed in contact with the two women for several years and finally brought her idea to Teddy Leifer from Rise Films, with whom Kim Longinotto had made the film Rough aunties (2008). Although Longinotto initially had reservations about the depressing issue of prostitution, she finally agreed to participate in the project: a trailer that showed her the energy and joie de vivre of the two women sparked a spark and convinced them to show a film how life can be changed in a positive way. Longinotto, Stevens and a sound engineer traveled to Chicago for ten weeks, from where Longinotto only brought back 30 hours of filming - she had already developed a concept for the film while shooting.

Showtime acquired the film rights in early 2015 .

Classification in Longinotto's work

Dreamcatcher is thematically closely related to Longinotto's earlier documentaries, in which she shows the efforts of girls and women to change their situation in a world dominated by men. Continuity can also be seen with regard to the team: Longinotto had already worked with Teddy Leifer from Rise Films on Rough aunties (2008) and with the film editor Ollie Huddleston, whom Longinotto sees as her equal partner and whose work she sees as the most important element Film lasts, even made eight films.

At first glance, there is no reference to Longinotto's first film made in the USA, Rock Wives (1996), at the location of the film : This shows the completely different milieu of the privileged wives and friends of rock stars. But the director found clear parallels between the living conditions of people in the dreamcatcher milieu and the location of her film Rough Aunties , namely Durban in South Africa .

Awards

Invitations to festivals

Prices

Dreamcatcher received a directing award at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival .
  • 2015: Directing Award World Cinema Documentary (directing award in the field of international documentary film) at the Sundance Film Festival .

"The real award goes to people trying to stop human traffic."

- Lisa Stevens, co-producer of Dreamcatcher

Nominations

Movie reviews

The film was received positively by international critics.

Benjamin Lee from the Guardian and Donald Clarke from the Irish Times both awarded four stars out of five. Lee described the film as dark, unfussy and deeply moving and acknowledged that the director refrained from exploiting the gruesome life stories of women emotionally. Donald Clarke commented positively that the film got by without voice-overs and gadgets and that Brenda Myers-Powell's charisma , humor and perseverance were the focus. The film shows viewers unpleasant truths about capitalism , but also the indestructible belief in change.

Mark Adams called Dreamcatcher a simple but relentless and at the same time compassionate film, shaped by Brenda Myers-Powell's strong desire to make a difference.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b Ben Beaumont-Thomas: Guardian Live: Doc Day Sunday - Dreamcatcher At a Guardian Live screening of Dreamcatcher, director Kim Longinotto and Brenda Myers-Powell explain why the film's influence and impact extends out of the cinema and on to the streets of America. , in: The Guardian , March 24, 2015, accessed May 23, 2015.
  2. ^ Page of the movie Dreamcatcher , accessed May 23, 2015.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Carol Nahra: Sundance 2015 Selection 'Dreamcatcher' Empowers Girls and Women in Gritty Chicago. , in: International Documentary Association (Ed.): Documentary Magazine , December 5, 2014, accessed May 24, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Given that the film details many despicable acts committed by men, as well as doing much to demonstrate how systemic male violence perpetuates the exploitation of women, it would be apt to mute any male perspective from the film altogether, and focus solely on a story of sisterhood - but Longinotto intelligently brings in the voice of a contrite former pimp, who shows that he was as much a product of his environment of abuse. " Ben Beaumont-Thomas: Guardian Live: Doc Day Sunday - Dreamcatcher At a Guardian Live screening of Dreamcatcher, director Kim Longinotto and Brenda Myers-Powell explain why the film's influence and impact extends out of the cinema and on to the streets of America. , in: The Guardian , March 24, 2015, accessed May 23, 2015.
  5. ↑ Tambay A. Obenson: Showtime Acquires 'Dreamcatcher' Before Its World Premiere at Sundance. ( Memento of the original from February 3, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , in: Shadow and Act. On Cinema Of The African Diaspora , January 23, 2015, accessed May 24, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / blogs.indiewire.com
  6. ^ Message from the Athena Film Festival on Dreamcatcher , accessed on May 23, 2015.
  7. ^ Message from the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival on Dreamcatcher , accessed on May 23, 2015.
  8. ↑ Film description on the Munich Documentary Film Festival website , accessed on May 23, 2015.
  9. ↑ List of winners of the Sundance Festival ( Memento of the original from October 27, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on May 23, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sundance.org
  10. ↑ Acceptance speech by producer Lisa Stevens at the award ceremony , accessed on May 23, 2015.
  11. ↑ IMDb page on Dreamcatcher Awards , accessed May 23, 2015.
  12. ↑ a b Benjamin Lee: Dreamcatcher review - deeply moving prostitution documentary 4/5 stars Kim Longinotto's film about the work of Chicago ex-prostitute Brenda Myers-Powell is calm, non-judgmental and engaging. , in: The Guardian , March 5, 2015, accessed May 23, 2015.
  13. ↑ a b Donald Clarke: Dreamcatcher review: a story full of courage and decency, resilience and humor Documentarian Kim Longinotto turns her lens to the sex workers of Chicago and discovers that too many have the same story to tell. , in: The Irish Times , March 5, 2015, accessed May 23, 2015.
  14. ↑ Mark Adams: Dreamcatcher , in: Screendaily, January 29, 2015, accessed May 23, 2015.