Pharaoh's Streets

An alchemical tale of one homeless recylcer's
commitment to California redemption values.

"Deeply moving and accomplished . . ."

- Silver Lake Film Festival, Los Angeles, September, 2001

" . . . one of the most powerful and moving documentaries on hunger and homelessness in recent years . . ."

- Northeast Summit on Hunger and Homelessness, Northampton, MA, March, 2002

". . . brilliant sequences . . . an eminantly valuable visual text . . . startling and brave vision."

- The Free Press, November 30, 2001

"art in the deepest sense; that is, it is an expression of humanity through media"

- The Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, November 20, 2002

". . . a compassionate documentary that ventures to the heart of skid row in Los Angeles, California. Homeless men and women testify to daily encounters of frustration and cruelty with a raw eloquence that is conceived out of a reality devoid of superfluous conveniences. The film concentrates on two men: Ted Hayes, a non-violent activist determined to inspire public acknowledgment of homeless people's humanity, and Tyrone, a homeless man dedicated simply to a dignified survival. Between these two individuals, Pharaoh's Streets unravels the societal ironies that perpetuate the homeless condition in the United States, inevitably forcing the viewer to examine the qualities and excesses within their own lifestyles that may unknowingly contribute to the problem."

- Jen Thaler, UCSC Student

Press/Links

KODAK: Humanitarian Award

Public Affairs Press Release

The Free Press

The Dartmouth #1

LA Freewaves

SYNOPSIS: Set on the streets of Los Angeles during the Democratic National Convention in 2000, PHARAOH'S STREETS is the compelling alchemical tale of one homeless activist's struggle to be heard and one homeless recycler's commitment to California redemption values. Amidst a pandemonium of protestors, police, and politicians, nineteen year-old documentarian Rothe-Kushel sensitively penetrates the world of LA's homeless and transforms their struggle into a meditation on human rights, social movements, transformation, integrity, and class in the twenty-first century.