A true story about a homeless 72-year-old man unapologetically living free his entire life, this is director Stacey Stone and producer Diane Mellen’s documentary Kenny
In the midst of a cost of living crisis, booming inflation rates, and wars in faraway places affecting our daily lives, director Stacey Stone and her long-time producing partner Diane Mellen’s sobering documentary short Kenny helpfully reminds us that our circumstances could be so much worse.
Clocking in at a brisk 10 minutes, ‘Kenny’ is a sometimes devastating portrait of 72-year-old Kenny Harris – a former construction worker who for years has lived without a home. We meet him in the Californian town of Santa Barbara where he has been ‘living free’ (we never hear the word homeless) for many years. Kenny’s abode has been under trees, under bridges, and, if he’s very lucky, sometimes under a tent.
It has become big news recently that California continues to lead the United States in homelessness, with data showing this state in particular has the highest rate of unhoused people who live outside. The primary cause of this is the lack of affordable housing aggravated by the end of pandemic programs that expanded shelter and protected tenants from eviction.
Kenny, having never had a home, isn’t one of these people, but he is one of the statistics and Stone’s moving documentary puts a face to these numbers. Where she deserves even more praise is that she not only gives us a face, but also a name, an identity, and a personal story of how Kenny came to be homeless and how he remains so upbeat and full of hope despite his challenges.
What is also special about the film is that it never employs a narrator; Stone lets Kenny tell his own story and, although she asks the odd question, she prefers to let the visuals tell the story. This is done with the use of rotoscope-type animation as Stacey Stone paints pictures to illuminate Kenny’s words. The stories of his family and his early adventures jumping from train to train are brought vividly to life with the black-and-white animation, giving these moments a timeless quality. The documentary also excels in its more dramatic moments like when a storm and flash flood hits the area Kenny resides in and, because Stone has told us so much about her subject, we become genuinely worried for his safety.
We have reviewed many films from Pace Films in the past and with each one Stone and Mellen have enlightened our minds and improved our knowledge base. They never fail to tell us an interesting story, and Kenny is another excellent example. What comes across the most with Kenny is, despite the seriousness of it’s subject and the horrible stats it highlights for us, Kenny remains an extremely positive and upbeat film. Director Stone avoids the “aren’t you ashamed” nattering of most films about homelessness and in doing so creates one that is far more empathetic. This approach gives ‘Kenny’ a more uplifting conclusion which in turn leads to a much stronger impact.
Leave a Reply