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The Homestretch

Winner, 2015 News and Documentary Emmy Award
a feature documentary film by Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly
co-produced by Spargel Productions, Kartemquin Films and ITVS

The Homestretch follows three homeless teens as they fight to stay in school, graduate, and build a future. Each of these smart, ambitious teenagers - Roque, Kasey and Anthony - will surprise, inspire, and challenge audiences to rethink stereotypes of homelessness as they work to complete their education while facing the trauma of being alone and abandoned at an early age.

Through haunting images, intimate scenes, and first-person narratives, these teens take us on their journeys of struggle and triumph. As their stories unfold, the film connects us deeply with larger issues of poverty, race, juvenile justice, immigration, foster care, and LGBTQ rights. A powerful, original perspective on what it means to be young, homeless and building a future in America today.

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Highlights

  • World Premiere at the 2014 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival

  • National PBS Broadcast on Independent Lens

  • Winner, 2015 News and Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Economic Reporting, Long Form

  • 2015 Finalist for The Japan Prize International Contest for Educational Media

  • Spirit of Youth Advocacy Award from the National Runaway Safeline

  • National Institute for Health Care Management Journalism Award

  • PBS/CPB American Graduate Initiative Film

  • MacArthur Foundation Media Grant

  • U.S. State Department American Film Showcase Program

  • Sundance Institute Documentary Fellows Program

  • Sundance Institute Documentary Edit & Story Lab

  • GoodPitch Chicago Project

  • Festivals: Hot Docs, AFI Docs, Human Rights Watch, Thessaloniki, CNEX Taipei, BendFilm, Hot Springs Documentary, Dallas VideoFest, Indie Memphis, Citizen Jane, St. Louis International, Cleveland International, Anchorage International, Paris Festival International du Film Des Droits de L’Homme, Chicago Humanities Festival (and more)