By Judith Vogelsang
HUMBLE PRODUCTIONS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 2009
DOCUMENTARY ON HOMELESS ARTISTS TO PREMIERE
AT NEW JERSEY FILM FESTIVAL
Los Angeles – HUMBLE BEAUTY: Skid Row Artists, a one-hour documentary about talented homeless fine arts painters, will have its Film Festival and East Coast premiere Saturday, June 20th at 7 pm in the New Jersey International Film Festival at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
HUMBLE BEAUTY follows, over a four year period, the evolving lives and artwork of a group of remarkable homeless and formerly homeless men and women who, despite a daily struggle for survival, are motivated to paint and create art in the worst section of Los Angeles. One of the themes of the film is that art is everywhere, an integral part of human life and society, no matter how difficult or humble the circumstances.
Los Angeles is the homeless capital of America. There are nearly 100,000 homeless men, women and children on the streets. “Skid Row” is an area just east of downtown Los Angeles with the largest concentration of homeless. Some artists find their art supplies in garbage cans and dumpsters. They draw on old paper bags. Many have joined art workshops led by dedicated artist-social workers and are given paint, canvases, frames, easels and the technical, creative and supportive guidance to create remarkable, often therapeutic, works of art. A few of these artists have shown and sold their work in galleries.
Art changed their lives dramatically. In the film, one woman admits that coming to the Art Workshop is the only reason she has for getting up in the morning. Another painter, formerly a directionless hustler and convict, has become a known, respected painter and community leader. A shy immigrant who creates, in classic primitive style, riotously colorful scenes from his childhood in a tiny Mexican village has suffered a major setback – he’s been admitted to art school at the University of California, Berkeley, and awarded a scholarship but can’t attend due to his immigration status. One artist was a 12-year old runaway from an Indian Reservation in 1941 and has been on the streets of Skid Row ever since.
In its first review in FilmThreat.com, HUMBLE BEAUTY is called “a masterful film…a first-rate, profound documentary” with “seamless, unobstrusive filmmaking.” (http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=11586)
The film was written, produced and directed by award-winning independent filmmakers and Directors Guild of America members, Letitia Popa Schwartz and Judith Vogelsang, who will be attending the Festival screening. One of their goals with this film is to change perceptions of the homeless, especially now when large numbers of people are becoming homeless every day. Video clips as well as more information about the film, the artists and the filmmakers are available at www.humblebeauty.com.
Executive Director of the New Jersey International Film Festival and of the Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center is Professor Albert G. Nigrin who teaches in the Program in Cinema Studies at Rutgers University. Festival screenings are in Milledoler Hall, Room 100, on the Rutgers Campus near the intersection of College Avenue and Hamilton Street in New Brunswick.
Directions to the Festival, ticket prices and more information about the NJIFF are available at www.njfilmfest.com.
## contact: Judith Vogelsang [email protected] 323-874-2220
