About The Other America….
this was written about the film by Eddie Cockrell from the San Francisco International Film Festival:
“I do come from somewhere,” declares homeless teenager Ari, “Right here, as a matter of fact.” “Here” is the diverse urban landscape of West Philadelphia, where Ari lives virtually unsupervised with his never-seen mother. Like most adolescents, the good-looking and fundamentally decent Ari is struggling with identity issues, which manifest themselves via his graffiti artist alter ego Shelter Boy. While making hesitant advances towards Cassie, a schoolmate and aspiring actress with challenges of her own, Ari must also deal with the aggressive and equally conflicted Jackie—neither of whom know Ari’s secrets. Shot in 32 days over a four-month span utilizing a trio of nonprofessionals discovered during a meticulous research and interview process,The Other America is the quietly authoritative fifth feature film from indie veteran Eugene Martin, whose 1998 teen drama Edge City (SFIFF 1998) won the Hamptons Film Festival Grand Jury Prize. As a matter of fact, the native Philadelphian works the intersection of Fred Wiseman and Gus Van Sant with confidence and compassion, embracing the resiliency of the human spirit in a story that flows with the graceful force of visual jazz.
—Eddie Cockrell
And from Dennis Harvey in Variety:
By DENNIS HARVEY
Experimenting with a more bare-bones, light-footed approach than in his prior indie dramas (“Edge City,” “Diary of a City Priest”), writer-director Eugene Martin’s “The Other America” is a delicately observed study of three Philadelphia teens. Rewarding effort may be too low-key and noncommercial in tenor to get far theatrically, but deserves extensive fest attention, with niche over-the-counter/broadcast exposure to follow.
Protags are attractive, likeable high schoolers who nonetheless each suffer from low confidence. Ari (Tobias Segal) has a hidden life as a graffiti artist with a well-known “tag.” Perhaps more importantly, he hides his living situation — since escaping an abusive father, he and his mother (who, like most adult figures here, is never seen onscreen) have stayed in a public shelter. Ari’s friend Jackie (Vicky Wang) has just moved to the area with some secrets of her own. She’s jealous when Ari pines for wary Cassie (Irene Longshore), whose mother’s death left her the household’s main provider. Shot on the fly, with pro thesps only in lead roles, impressionistic pic turns economy into a virtue via adventuresome editing and hand-held yet handsome color lensing.
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