PBS to release a documentary about unhoused queer youth. Specifically, about Black queer and trans youth living on the streets of New York City.
According to Deadline, PBS recently acquired U.S. broadcast rights to Pier Kids through its documentary series POV. Pier Kids follows a small community of Black, unhoused queer and trans youth who live in and around New York City’s Christopher Street Pier. The documentary follows three teens/young adults throughout their personal journies. Through that, the film covers topics like homelessness, homophobia, transphobia, racial inequality, the economic gap, and more.
The film was directed by Elegance Bratton, who was once homeless himself, and produced by Bratton and Chester Alegrnal Gordon’s production company Freedom Principle. After filming for eight years, the documentary made its way around the indie film circuit. It premiered at DOC NYC and won awards at Outfest and the Film Independent Spirit Awards.
“Pier Kids stares down the past 50 years of the gay rights movement by witnessing the lived experience of Casper, Desean, and Krystal – three Black queer and trans homeless youth,” Bratton shared in a statement. “POV sits at the direct intersection of government and art; to premiere on their platform is a dream come true. Its easy accessibility and relationship to change makers gives my film a great base to advocate for the issue of queer youth homelessness. Every queer person, no matter where they live, is a Pier Kid because Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson made a sacrifice so that we can all be free. This is not a film about statistics or celebrity. This is a film that believes the people on screen are the experts of their own lives and, through bearing witness to their truth, viewers will be galvanized to end LGBT youth homelessness.”
Now, the documentary will air sometime soon on PBS through their documentary series POV. That said, no official release date has been announced.
Source; Deadline,
