Spit (film)
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| S.P.I.T.: Squeegee Punks in Traffic | |
|---|---|
 DVD Cover of S.P.I.T. |
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| Directed by | Daniel Cross |
| Produced by | Daniel Cross Mila Aung-Thwin Pascal Maeder |
| Starring | Eric Denis |
| Cinematography | Mila Aung-Thwin |
| Distributed by | Atopia, and eye steel film |
| Release date(s) | 2001 (Canada) |
| Running time | 80 min. |
| Language | English, and French subtitles |
| IMDb profile | |
S.P.I.T.: Squeegee Punks in Traffic is a 2001 film by Daniel Cross. The narrative unfolds from the point-of-view of a single character named Roach. As part of the filmmaking process, he's been given a camera to document his world. The footage he gets is urgent, because there's a war against squeegee kids. This documentary is from the point of view of the kids themselves, in order to provide alternative voices. Roach's camera is positioned behind "enemy" lines: living in derelict buildings, squeegeeing for money, being hunted by police. The viewer is forced to look at the living reality of Roach and his friends: Hungry on the streets in one of the world's most prosperous countries-considered thugs, criminals, and enemies. This film shatters the windshield between Us and Them. Roach's camera acts as the hammer: hard, forceful, direct; impacting with the force of an actual life. Cross's camera documents the impact: recording the reflections of individual lives, mirrored upon the shards of flying glass.
[edit] Plot
Roach has been living on the streets since age 14, he’s rebellious, loud and defiant. As part of S.P.I.T., Roach has been given a camera to document his world. The footage he gets is urgent, because there’s a war against squeegee kids. The RoachCAM is positioned behind enemy lines: living in derelict buildings, squeegeeing for money, being hunted by police. The viewer is forced to look at the living reality of Roach and his friends: Hungry on the streets in one of the world’s most prosperous countries, classified as thugs, criminals, and enemies. These kids refuse to obey, assimilate, and conform to society’s values - their beliefs and realities are scarred into their flesh in the form of piercings, tattoos, track marks, bruised veins, rotting teeth, gangrene, scurvy...
S.P.I.T. shatters the windshield between Us and Them. Roach’s camera acts as the hammer: hard, forceful, direct; impacting with the force of an actual life. Daniel Cross’ camera documents the impact: recording the reflections of individual lives, mirrored upon the shards of flying glass.
This is a collaborative film that seizes Punk’s "do-it-yourself" ethos. Local punkers Deadly Pale, Locos and others contributed guttural emotion to the soundtrack. Artist Rick Trembles supplied an apocalyptic animation sequence from Roach’s imagination. Youth and rebellion fuel this film.
Daniel Cross makes films with people who traditionally aren’t given a voice. The Street: a film with the homeless has won audience awards and critical acclaim for its frank and compassionate portrayal of three homeless men. During the making of The Street, Cross began to notice more and more homeless young people. Kids sleeping in doorways, squeegeeing for spare change, stepping into traffic and announcing their poverty. Feared by motorists and hunted by police. S.P.I.T. Squeegee Punks in Traffic was created within the bleak reality of this new generation gap. This is an independent, auteur film: daring, cinematic and urgent.
