The Hotel of Waifs

Catchy mix of farce and documentary. Portrait of a Berlin theatre company made up entirely of the homeless, alcoholics and junks. They call themselves ‘rats’ and take the film over to have a party.

Explores the lives of Sara, Gigi and Giovanna, three Latino transvestites who for years have lived on the streets of Manhattan supporting their drug addictions through prostitution. They made their temporary home inside broken garbage trucks that the Sanitation Department keeps next to the salt deposits used in the winter to melt the snow. The three friends share the place known as "The Salt Mines".

49 Up is the seventh film in a series of landmark documentaries that began 42 years ago when UK-based Granada's World in Action team, inspired by the Jesuit maxim "Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man," interviewed a diverse group of seven-year-old children from all over England, asking them about their lives and their dreams for the future. Michael Apted, a researcher for the original film, has returned to interview the "children" every seven years since, at ages 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and now again at age 49.In this latest chapter, more life-changing decisions are revealed, more shocking announcements made and more of the original group take part than ever before, speaking out on a variety of subjects including love, marriage, career, class and prejudice.

After Kai saves a woman's life, he turns into an overnight hero and viral sensation — until disturbing truths about his erratic behavior come to light. This shocking documentary chronicles a happy-go-lucky nomad's ascent to viral stardom and the resulting steep downward spiral.

A homeless man with schizophrenia slowly embraces antipsychotic medication under Hawaii's only willing psychiatrist and a court mandate, while a man in recovery offers rare insight into mental illness as he fights to reclaim stability.

Homelessness in the United States takes many forms. For Elizabeth Herrera, David Lima and their four children, housing instability has meant moving between unsafe apartments, motels, relatives’ couches, shelters, the streets and their car. After 15 years of this uncertainty, the family moved into their first stable housing — an apartment in the San Francisco Bay Area — in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Poignant stories of homelessness on the West Coast of the US frame this cinematic portrait of a surging humanitarian crisis.

Stonewall veterans (including prominent trans activist Sylvia Rivera) and HIV-positive New Yorkers take up residency on the Hudson River piers as cranes raze vacant buildings for a new skyline.

The film presents the life and work of two sisters Grażyna and Violetta, who run a center for homeless men. The heart and unconventional approach to their children makes them build a real home together.

The film explores the turbulent lives of homeless persons in Cologne, Germany. Through their personal belongings the homeless share with the viewer their memories and emotions, and provide insight into the secrets of survival on the street.

Mariem, 53, a former estate agent, has been living at a shelter for several months. Surrounded by women in far more precarious circumstances than herself, she tries to regard her unprecedented social downfall as an immersion in real life. By the time she leaves, Mariem’s view of the world will have changed forever, enriched by all the women she has met along the way.

A homeless musician finds meaning in his life when he starts a friendship with dozens of parrots.

Horst Holtfreter, born in Germany came to be known as Munspelsmannen (The Harmonica Man) as he, homeless on the streets of Stockholm could be found playing his harmonica throughout the evening. This short documentary depicts Horsts life through interviews and footage of his street-based-performances.

A hotel in the centre of town is a war-time home and refuge for many of Sarajevo's homeless people. Every morning they leave the hotel and wander around the destroyed city gathering again at the defunct hotel in the afternoon. This film follows their separate fates through the bitter comparing of images of the bums with those of dogs abandoned by their owners and now left et the mercy of the war ravaged streets of Sarajevo.

It is winter at an emergency shelter for the homeless in Lausanne. Every night at the door of this little-known basement facility the same entry ritual takes place, resulting in confrontations which can sometimes turn violent. Those on duty at the shelter have the difficult task of “triaging the poor”: the women and children first, then the men. Although the total capacity at the shelter is 100, only 50 “chosen ones” will be admitted inside and granted a warm meal and a bed. The others know it will be a long night.

Valery Liashkevich is a homeless artist who lives at a railway station and for over twenty years has painted pictures in the streets of the town of Gomel in Belarus. For the natives he is no more than a local attraction. For art critics he is a phenomenon worth close attention.

A cinematic portrait of the homeless population who live permanently in the underground tunnels of New York City.

This documentary about teenagers living on the streets in Seattle began as a magazine article. The film follows nine teenagers who discuss how they live by panhandling, prostitution, and petty theft.

There is a sterile megapolis outside. Chaos of pain and despair reigns there. People have lost their ability to be people and death is waiting for them everyday and everywhere. On contrary, "inside" is the place where they receive doctors' help. While saving the wretched, the doctors save all of us too.

Chronicles the modern-day David and Goliath tale amidst North America's housing crisis. During the pandemic, Khaleel Seivwright, a young Toronto carpenter, builds life-saving shelters for unhoused people facing the winter outside. His actions attracted international acclaim but also staunch opposition from the city government, portraying a compelling narrative set against the backdrop of societal challenges and governmental resistance.