Dirty Feathers

With humour, grit and grace, Dirty Feathers captures the daily lives of a homeless community on the US- Mexican border. While some are welcomed into El Paso’s homeless shelters, the film introduces us to those who aren’t: soon-to-be parents who dream of opening a restaurant, a grieving father paralysed by unshakable guilt, a veteran who served the very country that has long abandoned him, and a teenage girl with a dog and a prophet’s fervour who found peace and family on the streets. Director Carlos Alfonso Corral gives his impressive debut a strong sense of intimacy and respect, blending a beautiful score, poetic sound design and stark black-and-white images to craft a lyrical, moving and very honest account of the multifarious nature of life on the streets.