Under The Bridge

The independent film “Under the Bridge” had its Washington, D.C., premier on Wednesday, December 2, 2015, at E Street Cinema. This film was the collaborative project of Don Sawyer, Adam Oppenheim and a small group of committed film makers  who spent half a year with people who live in a homeless camp in Indianapolis, IN. The well balanced narrative explains the issues relevant to poverty in a culture that could certainly resolve the problem if only it would muster the will to come to a mutually beneficial resolution.

The film centers around a man named Maurice who believes his spiritual assignment is to enter a life of poverty and help those in need.  With dreadlocks and an unruly beard, Maurice resembles a jolly Rastafarian elder with a special twinkle in his eye.  In charge of the camp, Maurice welcomes everybody, regardless of a person’s background.  This high level of tolerance attracts all types of people to the camp. Some were dealing with mental illness and drug abuse, while others simply made choices that caused them to lose their jobs and thus compromise their socio-economic status.

“Under The Bridge” takes a humane approach in elaborating what homelessness is and how society handles it. You have a sympathetic law enforcement agent who wishes there were a better way to deal with the situation but claims he has “no place to put these people.” Nonetheless, this man performs his duties. Then you have Christian ministries and organizations that have been involved since the camp’s infancy, providing basic materials for survival such as canned goods, toiletries and hand-me-down clothing. The people who help seem to have that knowing awareness that people are people and everybody deserves a basic level of care and attention. The Indianapolis city government doesn’t quite see it that way and they believe that people who offer these “free gifts” are enabling the inhabitants of the camp. “If giving someone clean underwear, a clean pair of socks and some food is enabling, then we damn sure well are enabling these people,” was stated by one of the ministry volunteers in the film.

The homeless people in the camp have a strong sense of community, but before that cohesiveness can flourish it is aggressively disrupted by the band of politicians, law enforcement personnel and private property owners that simply will not tolerate any straying off the well-worn path of a clean cut society.

We come to terms with the fact that the city wants homeless people to remain hidden. This out of sight / out of mind mentality creates a ripple effect of anger and desperation among those who want to improve the situation but are caught in the nets of heavy  resistance from public officials. When you watch the film, you can’t help but feel the frustration and futility when the film crew interviews various city officials. The trained spokespeople have answers but no solutions. Similarly, there are organizations that supposedly work to eradicate poverty and you cannot help but  wonder what they do with the hundreds of thousands of dollars they collect in donations, since the problem remains.

During the Q&A session after the film, one could sense the temple-throbbing tension +as the issues portrayed in the film were discussed in a theatre full of people.   This film will spark a flame in those with compassion.


Issues |Art


Region |Washington DC

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We believe ending homelessness begins with listening to the stories of those who have experienced it.

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