The film follows a simple structure, and shows the drug-related degradation of five youths (Jake, Tracey, Jessica, Alice, Oreo) during the course of three years. The film depicts drug-related crimes and diseases: prostitution, male prostitution, AIDS, and lethal overdoses.
Direction
Okazaki's patient observation refuses exploitation.
Editing
Three-year arc builds crushing inevitability.
Production
Access this intimate shouldn't feel this possible.
Director
Steven Okazaki
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot during the peak of San Francisco's black tar heroin epidemic, when Mexican trafficking networks displaced pricier East Coast powder.
Okazaki spent two years building trust before filming; several subjects initially believed he was undercover police.
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