Twenty years before The Artist, Sidewalk Stories portrays the friendship of a tramp and a child, in a moving and funny homage to Chaplin’s The Kid. Both witty and tender, Charles Lane’s gorgeous black and white comedy pays tribute to the silent film era, with a score composed by Marc Marder. Charles Lane accurately captures the daily life of the homeless population of New York with a cinéma vérité approach that undoubtedly reminds of Lionel Rogosin’s On the Bowery. His film is also an important work of the New African-American cinema of the 1980s, along with Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing and John Singleton’s Boyz N The Hood, that conveyed a strong political message. Finally, with this gripping tale of the underprivileged and its beautiful portrayal of the city, Sidewalk Stories uniquely draws on social satire to deliver a timeless message of generosity and love.


"Let's get this part right up front - Sidewalk Stories, the first feature-length movie by Charles Lane, is a flat-out brilliant piece of work." The Times