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According to them, homelessness is a possibility for anyone. It only takes missing two pay cheques to end up on the streets. This sentiment was reinforced while watching a documentary narrated by Colin Firth and directed by Lorna Tucker, who has her own experience with homelessness. At the age of 15, Tucker ran away from home and found herself living on the streets of London. The documentary includes footage from Tucker’s childhood, showing her as a happy seven-year-old girl eating Hula Hoops with her fingers. It’s difficult to understand how this same girl ended up addicted to heroin and sleeping on the streets just a few years later.
Tucker shares her personal journey and also conducts interviews with individuals who have been homeless. Earl Charlton, who was homeless for 18 years but is now a caseworker for a homeless charity, is one of the people she speaks with. During his interview, Charlton becomes emotional when reflecting on his first day of work, realizing that he has achieved a new life that once seemed unattainable. In London, Tucker speaks to women who are homeless and face daily threats of violence and abuse. Their common experience is childhood trauma, including growing up in homes with domestic violence, neglect, or substance abuse.
According to John Bird, the founder of The Big Issue, the main issue is not just homelessness, but all the other problems that come with it. He emphasizes the need to address homelessness in a comprehensive manner, including addressing mental health. Bird speaks from personal experience of being homeless and is also one of the policymakers and activists that Tucker interviews. As he sits there with a pen leaking in his shirt pocket, Bird points out that people admire his story as a former homeless person who turned his life around, but few employers would have given him a chance when he was in that position.
This film is both heartbreaking and inspiring, with the underlying message that homelessness can be solved. Through her poignant and impactful interviews, Tucker manages to create a sense of empathy. Perhaps it is her thought-provoking questions or the way she meets her subjects at eye level, treating them as individuals with a past and, hopefully, a bright future.
The film, “Someone’s Daughter, Someone’s Son,” will be released in UK and Irish theaters on February 16th.
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Source: theguardian.com
