An incendiary mix of documentary, poetry, storytelling, drama, and performance, EVERY CHILD IS BORN A POET explores the life and work of Piri Thomas (b. 1928) the Afro-Cuban-Puerto Rican author of the classic autobiographical novel Down These Mean Streets (1967). The film traces Thomas’ path from childhood to manhood in New York City’s Spanish Harlem, El Barrio, from the 1930s through the 1960s; his parents’ immigrant experience, home life during the Great Depression, his membership in barrio youth gangs, his struggle to come to terms with his mixed-racial identity, his travels as a teen-age merchant marine, his heroin addiction, his notorious armed robbery of a Greenwich Village nightclub, his six years spent in prison, and then his emergence as a writer. Thomas’ coming-of-age story is counter-pointed with verité scenes of his on-going work of forty-five years as an educator and activist empowering marginalized and incarcerated youths. A stylized, genre-spanning production, EVERY CHILD IS BORN A POET is a riveting portrait of a life lived through struggle, self-discovery, and transformation as it examines Thomas’ use of creative expression as a means of confronting poverty, racism, violence and isolation.
CLICK HERE to read Collective Eye's interview with Director & Producer Jonathan Robinson
AWARDS:
Official Selection - Tribeca Film Festival 2003
WINNER of the Prima Award - the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival 2003
Honorable Mention- Urbanworld Film Festival 2003
Distinguished Documentary Feature Award- International Documentary Association (IDA) 2003
Silver Wolf Award - International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) 2003
Official U.S. Selection for IMPUT - International Public Television Conference 2004 (Barcelona, Spain)
Quotes/ Reviews:
"...colorful and vibrant documentary..." -Daily Times