For five years, director Elegance Bratton closely followed the lives of Krystal, Desean and Krystal-three Trans and Queer youths who navigate the streets of New York City and call the city’s well-known Christopher Street Pier their home base. “The film follows these three over the course of five years to understand what it  means to be Black and queer 50 years after Stonewall and show the intricate ways people of colour utilise public space to build a chosen family,” states the film’s synopsis.

Homelessness is an important issue for Bratton to tackle; at the age of 16, his mother disowned him for being gay, and he found himself hustling to survive on the streets of New York City. What’s more, it is reported that nearly half of homeless youth in America are Queer people of colour. “…it is time for movements around gay rights and homelessness to be more inclusive and not just limit themselves to what closely resembles the status quo. We owe it to Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera to advocate for these queer young people of colour," says Elegance Bratton in a statement for Advocate.

WATCH THE TRAILER FOR PIER KIDS:

Pier Kids is currently showing at the now-virtual Bentonville Film Festival in Arkansas, which runs from 10-16 August 2020, and will seek additional distribution deals.