Lowdown Tracks World Premiere Hot Docs 2015 GAT PR Press Summary
Interviews Completed: Tuesday, March 17
CTV Shelley Saywell & Lorraine Segato
POV Shelley Saywell & Lorraine Segato
Toronto Star Shelley Saywell & Lorraine Segato
Canadian Press Shelley Saywell & Lorraine Segato
680 News Shelley Saywell & Lorraine Segato
Jazz FM Shelley Saywell & Lorraine Segato
Hot Docs in house camera Shelley Saywell & Lorraine Segato
Friday, April 10
Toronto Sun Shelley Saywell & Lorraine Segato
Wednesday, April 16
Inside Toronto Shelley Saywell
Daily Xtra Shelley Saywell & Lorraine Segato
Friday, April 10
CBC – Definitely Not The Opera Lorraine Segato
Toronto Sun Shelley Saywell & Lorraine Segato
Thursday, April 23
CBC – Metro Morning Shelley Saywell & Lorraine Segato
Saturday, April 25
CBC – The National Shelley Saywell
Hot Docs Interview Shelley Saywell
Monday, April 27
CHCH – The Watchlist Shelley Saywell & Lorraine Segato
Friday, May 1
CP24 Shelley Saywell & Lorraine Segato
Parachute Club's Lorraine Segato shines a light on musical street talent in 'Lowdown Tracks' at Hot Docs By: Jim Slotek | April 23, 2015
http://www.torontosun.com/2015/04/23/parachute-‐clubs-‐lorraine-‐segato-‐shines-‐a-‐light-‐on-‐ musical-‐street-‐talent-‐in-‐lowdown-‐tracks-‐at-‐hot-‐docs At some point in their journey-‐of-‐discovery of musical street talent, Lorraine Segato and filmmaker Shelley Saywell began jokingly referring to their documentary Lowdown Tracks as “Homeless Idol.” “Except, unlike reality TV, there’s no million dollars, no life-‐changing event, no vote off the island and no ‘You’re better than this other person,’” says the social activist Segato, now a solo artist and formerly of the ‘80s Cancon hitmakers Parachute Club. There is a prize of sorts, however, in the last act of Lowdown Tracks, which debuts at Hot Docs April 25. Several of the startlingly-‐ talented dispossessed people – whose day-‐to-‐ day struggles are the narrative core of the film – end up in a recording studio with Segato and a team of professional players and back-‐up singers. The result is a collection of polished original songs with lyrics that reflect life on the invisible fringes of society. Segato and Saywell hope to have the artists registered with the royalty-‐collection group SOCAN, so the songs can be sold online to benefit the performers. But the normal recording-‐artist fantasy is secondary in most of the participants’ lives, Segato says. “I see them using their music as a coping mechanism for all that’s going on in their life. “This is almost the purest form of music there is,” says Segato, who likens its message with the boxcar songs of the Depression (one of the groups in Lowdown Tracks, a small tribe of young people called The Rail Yard Ghosts, literally does ride the rails).
“It comes out of the necessity to survive. Without her songs, Maryann (Epp, a former professional band vocalist they found singing in a Loblaws parking lot) probably wouldn’t be alive right now. It’s a tool for healing and survival.” Lowdown Tracks was born out of a homeless “talent show” Segato produced in 2007 at Toronto’s Berkeley Street Theatre. “The whole point of this event was to reframe how people saw un-‐housed people. It doesn’t look like what you think it looks like,” she says. “We had an Egyptian belly dancer, a blues singer; all manner of representation. We had photography by at-‐risk youth. It was really an amazing event.” Saywell, meanwhile, had just finished a documentary about street nurse Cathy Crowe. “And Cathy’s organization the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee, was working with Lorraine to put on the concert and I decided to go. I just went by myself and it blew me away. Parachute Club was the house band, and there was all this amazing talent, and I spent the night thinking, ‘What are their stories?’ “And at the end of the night, people were wandering off into the snow and I thought ‘Where are they going?’ I was thinking, ‘I wish I’d known this was happening. We could have made a film leading up to it.’” And indeed, the film that became Lowdown Tracks was first envisioned as a kind of homeless Last Waltz. “We soon started to realize that might not be the best idea,” Saywell says. “That night was magical but also very unpredictable. And if the whole film hinged on one night, as we learned from this film, not everybody shows up. There’s a lot of vulnerability.” Instead, they took their time, discovering people and their stories – including a young guitarist named Anthony Van Zant, banjo player Bruce Bathgate, country guitarist Woody Cormier and a young singer-‐songwriter named Katt Budd (who turns out to be a niece of the recording artist Serena Ryder). Budd is on and off the streets, with and without custody of her children. “We started stumbling on people,” Saywell says. “Maryann played night after night after dark outside Loblaws at Broadview and Danforth. My partner Deb Parks, the producer, would be visiting her mother and she’d hear this voice.” Some, like Budd, embrace the street as the only community where they feel welcome. For others, homelessness was involuntary, a few bad breaks away. “We were filming Bruce one morning at the shelter,” Saywell recalls. “And my cameraman, Michael, grabbed me and said, ‘My former neighbour is here! I just saw him. He got divorced a while ago. Our kids played hockey together.’ “It kind of shakes your sense of comfort. After a while shooting this movie, I started seeing the city more and more in terms of have and have-‐not.”
Hot Docs 2015: Some Like it Hot By: Matthew Hays | April 23, 2015 http://povmagazine.com/articles/view/some-‐like-‐it-‐hot Three new docs reinforce Hot Docs’s credo that truth is stranger than fiction THERE’S A REASON HOT DOCS has attained a worldwide reputation as one of the best places to see fantastic non-‐fiction filmmaking: the programming is exceptional. I’m always overwhelmed as I read their catalogue, never sure which films I’m going to manage to see and which films I’ll have to try to catch later. And 2015 is again full of rich, fascinating films that give us more evidence—like we needed any more—that truth is stranger than fiction. Here, POV talks with the directors of three standouts.
Lowdown Tracks While documentary filmmakers have often turned their lenses on the homeless, filmmaker Shelley Saywell takes a specific angle on the chronically unsheltered. In Lowdown Tracks, she and activist/musician Lorraine Segato interview a number of homeless musicians who live in Toronto.
Saywell takes a page from those who recorded homeless musicians during the Depression, pointing out that the homeless and itinerant have created some amazing works of musical art. And the talent is here, often tipping over into the brilliant. The performances are heartfelt and poignant, and while capturing some of the musicians in recording sessions, Saywell also gets them to relate how they ended up on the street. Their stories are varied but familiar, with circumstances stemming from familial or spousal breakups, addiction, mental illness or some combination of the three. All struggle but manage to gather some money through busking (though they recount their hassles with the busking regulatory bureaucracy). The process of the film became complicated because it was so easy to lose track of people. With no addresses nor cell phones, many people “would simply disappear,” Saywell recalls. “But the people we managed to stick with revealed more of their own stories, bit by bit. That provided the structure of the film.” Of all the stories, the two that are perhaps most shocking are the two men who are now permanently disabled after having endured repeated bouts of shock treatment decades ago. The treatment was supposed to knock out key parts of their memory, but the main thing it served to do was to leave them with severe PTSD (post-‐traumatic stress disorder). Saywell says a major revelation came when she realised how self-‐aware all of the people she was profiling were. “It’s hard not to sound like a cliché, but I learned so much more from them than we gave. They were all really concerned with the issues surrounding poverty themselves. They are trying to help people who are like them.” The sheer complexity of the issue of homelessness also left a mark on Saywell. “Homelessness is almost like alcoholism. If you have shelter, you’re still in that condition. Having a room won’t necessarily give that person a home. Often, the homeless feel they have no solid foundations anywhere.” To maintain a sense of mystery, one homeless man she profiles, who plays the piano beautifully, is left without any backstory, so as not to leave the audience with a sense that the issue of homelessness has somehow been solved by the end credits. “To me, he’s like the ghost figure, the everyperson.” Saywell says making the film, which went about a year over schedule, has made her far more attuned to the stories the homeless tell, to the hardships that have brought them to this place and state of being. “No one should be homeless in Canada. It doesn’t make any sense. That said, I didn’t want to make another film about the housing crisis. I wanted to reframe the way we see people on the street. I know it’s changed the way I see people on the street.” Lowdown Tracks Sat, Apr 25 8:30 PM – TIFF Bell Lightbox 2 Mon, Apr 27 6:30 PM – Scotiabank Theatre 3 Sat, May 2 6:30 PM – Scotiabank Theatre 8
VIDEO: Lowdown Tracks gives voice to homeless musicians By: PTP | April 23, 2015 http://www.dailyxtra.com/toronto/arts-‐and-‐entertainment/video-‐lowdown-‐tracks-‐ gives-‐voice-‐homeless-‐musicians-‐102789
Award-‐winning filmmaker Shelley Saywell and musician Lorraine Segato teamed up to makeLowdown Tracks, a heartfelt documentary about homeless musicians in Toronto. In the above interview with Daily Xtra’s Margaret Webb, the duo discusses the project and how a benefit concert started it all. Lowdown Tracks is playing at Hot Docs April 25, April 27 and May 2.
Filmmaker Shelley Saywell’s Lowdown Tracks at Hot Docs By: Hilary Caton | April 24, 2015 http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-‐story/5574873-‐filmmaker-‐shelley-‐saywell-‐s-‐lowdown-‐ tracks-‐at-‐hot-‐docs/ Documentary film follows lives of five Torontonians impacted by homelessness Documentary filmmaker Shelley Saywell is determined to share the stories behind the songs sung by the homeless on the streets and subways of Toronto. Every song sung on the curb has a story. That’s the message in Saywell’s documentary Lowdown Tracks, premiering at the 2015 Toronto Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. Set in the streets of Toronto, Saywell and musician Lorraine Segato of The Parachute Club follow the lives and voices of five homeless Torontonians, all of whom have very different stories with one common thread – music. It’s their original music that runs through the entire film, serving as the soundtrack to their life on harsh city streets. “One of the things we really wanted to do and hoped that we succeeded in doing was showing that these are people, with incredible stories, and talent and passion and they deserve to be listened to,” Saywell told The Villager. “Everyone in the film has either been homeless, is homeless, or totally on the margin and there’s reasons for that.” With over a dozen documentaries under her belt that have taken her all over the world, and numerous international awards on her shelf, including an Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism, Saywell’s recent documentary about homelessness brought her back home to Toronto. According to Saywell, an Ossington Avenue and College Street resident, the inspiration for the film came after she attended a benefit concert coordinated by Segato a few years ago. Her band and a few others played, but the headliners were all homeless. It was when the concert ended, she said, as people were shuffling out in the cold and drifting out into the night that the idea for the film began to take form. “I was just left wondering, what are their stories, how did they get there?” she said. “I wanted to know more.”
In Lowdown Tracks, Saywell chose to follow five different stories that touch on abuse, struggles with addiction and electric shock therapy. We follow Woody, who plays at the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal, Katt Budd and Van Zant, who play in subway stations for commuters, Maryanne Epp, a busker who’s lived in shelters for seven years, and Bruce Bathgate, also a busker. Each one was found by different members of the production team in different ways, said Saywell, adding it wasn’t easy getting them to open up about their life and share how they ended up on the streets. “It took time. Generally, the homeless are very private,” she said. “It was a process of hanging out, listening to them play, getting a coffee with them and I didn’t want to raise expectations, so I had to say, ‘look, this isn’t entirely a film about music or about busking. If you’ll agree to do the film this is really about opening up and telling us your story. And everybody thought about it. We didn’t rush anybody.” Saywell and her crew had to gain the trust of each person willing to open up on camera. She made sure she was available by phone whenever they had questions or just wanted to chat, to help alleviate any distrust because being on the streets for as long as they have forces them to become guarded individuals. “The thing that comes up over and over is that, ‘everything has been stolen from me.’ Whether it’s your physical property or your lyrics,” Saywell said. “In Woody’s case he feels like his whole life has been stolen. Everything from getting married to having kids has been stolen from him.” The film shows a harsh reality of homelessness in Toronto, from discussions of the number of homeless people who die every year on the streets, to the pitfalls of homeless shelters. It all unfolds as Saywell takes us from subway stations, to churches, and highway underpasses pulling back the curtain on what it means to have to live on the streets and survive. “I think a lot of it was difficult (to film),” Saywell admitted. “Emotionally it was hard, because you worry about everyone. We literally lost Bruce for a couple of months... It’s very emotional. Everybody was always in transition.” The film will screen at the Tiff Bellight Box, Saturday, April 25, and according to Saywell all of the subjects plan to attend the premier to see the final product. “I had so much fun making this film, which may be the wrong word when talking about a film about homeless but it’s also a film about healing and music,” she said. “It (the premier) will be fun. I’m really excited for everyone in the film to come out and show a little love because to me that will be the end of the film for me.” Lowdown Tracks will also screen April 27 and May 2 at 6:30 p.m. at the Scotiabank Theatre. For more information on the HotDocs festival, visit www.hotdocs.ca
Creativity Fights Adversity in Lowdown Tracks By: Lise Hosein | April 29, 2015 http://www.jazz.fm/index.php/component/content/article/11891 Lowdown Tracks is a locally made documentary that will cause some discussion if not a change in the conversation about homelessness. The film follows musicians without homes who busk in our city’s public spaces. We can argue that music is something that comes straight from the soul. And when we think about people who are struggling against extraordinary circumstances like finding a place to sleep at night or somewhere to feel safe in the world day by day, seeing them voice their experience through music is rather extraordinary. This film was made by Shelley Saywell and it features Lorraine Segato(you’ll remember her from Parachute Club and she’s the current artist-‐ in-‐residence at Regent Park) following the stories of a select group of strong people who perpetually live through the daily challenges of homelessness. Lorraine describes the film as a mission to lend respect and admiration to the people they were following: (PLAY CLIPS) Lorraine’s quiet presence in the film is the catalyst for opening these characters up and learning their histories. Their songs come alive with lyrics that, once we know their stories, are all the more affecting. So when you watch Lowdown Tracks, expect to hear some rather amazing music and, along the way, gain a new perspective on the people we see in the streets daily. What the film shows us is that homelessness doesn’t negate talent, eloquence, or an unbelievable ability to negotiate incredible difficulty. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you might be watching a film that’s going to bring you down: it’s likely you’ll be affected, but there’s a gift of hope to both the featured players in this film and to us. I don’t want to spoil the doc, but there’s a reward that comes at the end of following these folks, as Lorraine explains: (PLAY CLIPS) The characters in Lowdown Tracks give us a visceral picture of what can lead to life on the streets: abuse, mental illness, our economy, sometimes our apathy, and a larger system that we could argue has failed the disenfranchised. But it’s also bound to give us a sense of how dignity and creativity triumph in the face of monumental adversity and how important music is to keeping us human. You can see this stirring documentary as part of Hot Docs this Saturday, May 2nd – go to hotdocs.ca to find out more. And it will also be one of the featured films during Canadian Music Week a week later on May 9th – for that screening, visit cmw.net.
Hot Docs 2015: What documentaries should you see at this year's fest? By: CHRISTOPHER MANZA | April 17, 2015 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/hot-‐docs-‐2015-‐what-‐documentaries-‐should-‐you-‐ see-‐at-‐this-‐years-‐fest/article23733711/ Shelley Saywell -‐ World Premiere -‐ Country: Canada -‐ Length: 86 minutes You’ve heard it before: A singer calls for the band to “bring it on home,” which is a signal to ramp down, wrap up and finish off the tune. But, for some, bringing it home doesn’t come so easy. Shelley Saywell’s moving music documentary, narrated empathetically by activist and Parachute Club singer Lorraine Segato, gives voice to Toronto’s itinerant buskers and homeless, traumatized troubadours. Inspired by Alan Lomax’s folk-‐blues field recordings of the early 20th century and recalling the 2012 prison doc Music from the Big House by Canadian blues artist Rita Chiarelli, Lowdown Tracks offers the stories, housing situations and hard-‐won melodic truths from gifted musicians who fell through the cracks. As one of them puts it, “It don’t take much to lose your soul out here in the streets – people just take it from you.” They have their songs, though. And now, after recording sessions held at Blue Rodeo’s home studio, so do we. – Brad Wheeler
Lowdown Tracks (DIR. Shelly Saywell) By: Gregory Breen | April 17, 2015 http://wyliewrites.com/hot-‐docs-‐2015-‐3/ If you have ever stopped to smell the roses and listen to a busker, chances are Lowdown Tracks will bring a tear to your eye. In this heartfelt and engrossing film, activist and musician Lorraine Segato seeks to meet Toronto’s street musicians and record some of the wonderful tunes they play. Segato meets Woody Cormier, Anthony Van Zant, Maryann Epp, Bruce Bathgate and Katt Burr – five very special, talented people who have fallen through the cracks for various reasons and are living on the street. As we hear their heartbreaking life stories and listen to their brilliant and very personal songs, one of the tragedies of life in the modern world is laid bare. The film also sheds light on the city’s absurd busker laws. Katt discusses the crazy situation where musicians must audition “like Canadian Idol” to secure a spot to play in a subway station, while Bruce is disqualified from getting welfare because he holds a city busking permit. The stories are filled with horror and tragedy, but the people are filled with hope thanks to their habitual personalities and their passion for playing music. Lowdown Tracks’ will click with movie goers. The beautiful music will have the audience tapping their feet while they feel engaged in the documentary’s liveliness. Catch Lowdown Tracks at Toronto’s Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival on: Saturday, April 25 at 8:30 p.m. @ TIFF Bell Lightbox Monday, April 27 at 6:30 p.m. @ Scotiabank Theatre Saturday, May 2 at 6:30 p.m. @ Scotiabank Theatre
NOW Magazine – April 22 – Lowdown Tracks
https://nowtoronto.com/movies/hot-‐docs-‐2015/lowdown-‐tracks/
LOWDOWN TRACKS (Shelley Saywell, Canada). 86 minutes. Rating: NNNN Shelley Saywell's profile of homeless musicians makes for an inspiring ode to the power of music to sustain people living on the margins. She and her on-‐screen animator, Lorraine Segato, encouraged gifted players living in the streets and in encampments to tell their stories and shed light on what brought them to their desperate circumstances. It's a valuable sociology lesson, and the tales of abuse, bureaucratic bungling and financial hardship are heartbreaking. And the talent is wondrous. Wendell Cormier, who was forced to get electroshock treatments, sounds like Gordon Lightfoot, and singer/songwriter Maryann Epp is an inspiring combination of anger and wit. Get out the kleenex when Segato takes them into her studio to record their songs with her band. Apr 25, 8:30 pm, TIFF 2; Apr 27, 6:30 pm; Scotiabank 3; May 2, 6:30 pm, Scotiabank 8.
Hot Docs 2015: Lowdown Tracks By: Courtney Small | April 22, 2015
http://cinemaaxis.com/2015/04/22/hot-‐docs-‐2015-‐lowdown-‐tracks/
The role of the street performer within an urban landscape is often undervalued. Performing in subway stations and on street corners, these unknown musicians are frequently viewed as vagabonds too lazy to “get a real job.” Sleeping under park benches and bridges, with only the clothes on their back and their instruments to their name, they are often forgotten individuals in society. Shelley Saywell’s documentary,Lowdown Tracks, aims to change this. Saywell strives to put a face and soul to these oral storytellers whose melodic tunes often provide the soundtrack to daily life. The film focuses on the efforts made by The Parachute Club’s Lorraine Segato to highlight the talents of the transient, or “home free” as one woman declares, providers of urban folk music. Instead of holding a fundraising benefit to aid the homeless in the city, Segato came up with the
idea to provide an opportunity for these artists to get into a studio and record their own music. Following Segato’s encounters with five of Toronto’s transient buskers, Saywell uncovers harrowing tales of struggle, abuse and survival. Katt Budd, a mother of two, shares the pain of both having to send her kids to live with their father – who has a job and a better family support system – and rampant sexual assaults that come with life on the streets. One man, Wendell “Woody” Cormier, divulges his long battle with depression, addiction and mental illness. Another individual, Bruce Bathgate, shares a shocking tale of abuse in the foster care system which makes his life on the streets seem like a walk in the park in comparison. In one of the film’s subtly heart-‐wrenching moments, Maryanne happens to stumble upon the Toronto Homeless Memorial outside Trinity Church. It takes a few moments to register what she is observing, but slowly it sinks in that the lengthy list of names are of those who have died due to homelessness. Brought to tears, Maryanne’s words “we are better than this”, in reference to Toronto not being a third world country, applies to all the lives highlighted in Saywell’s film. If there is one area where the film could have provided even more insight it is the communal nature that music fosters. The recording sessions with Segato’s band of professional musicians, and one wonderful scene where Katt has a jam session with other transient individuals under a bridge, are saved until the end of the film. While it is understandable that Saywell keeps the focus on the individual plights of the musicians, a few more musical segments interspersed throughout would have offered a nice balance. Regardless, similar to the modern day folk singer in the film, Lowdown Tracks finds plenty of strength and hope through the universal power of music. Screens Saturday, April 25, 8:30 PM, TIFF Bell Lightbox Monday, April 27, 6:30 PM, Scotiabank Theatre Saturday, May 2, 6:30 PM, Scotiabank Theatre Tickets can be purchased at the Hot Docs website.
HOT DOCS 2015 REVIEW: LOWDOWN TRACKS By: RUSSELL FARNHAM | April 24, 2015 http://thetfs.ca/2015/04/24/hot-‐docs-‐2015-‐review-‐lowdown-‐tracks/ Shelley Saywell is a musician with an avid interest in human rights, especially when it comes to homelessness. In her film she follows a select group of homeless people on the streets of Toronto discussing their lives, their pasts and their stories. Each person she follows uses music as a way of telling their stories and giving them hope. Sawyer works with these forgotten talents and helps them to find some solace in their love of music. Lowdown Tracks reminds us of those people that we often walk past on the streets of our city and jolts our consciousnesses into remembering the reasons why so many people are forced to live on the streets. Saywell uses music to tell the these forgotten musicians stories and the sad factors that lead them to a life of homelessness. Music is many peoples form of escapism, but maybe not as much as those who live without a home. It is music that keeps them alive, sometimes financially, and they use it to find peace in their world. Although the film deals with many important issues and reminds us of the therapeutic components of music to the soul, Lowdown Tracks doesn’t resonate as much as it could have. There are moments of genuine heartache for viewers, but a lack of story fails to makes this a truly sonorous documentary. IS LOWDOWN TRACKS ESSENTIAL FESTIVAL VIEWING? Although by no means essential viewing, the film does remind us of some truths about Toronto’s problem with homelessness. LOWDOWN TRACKS SCREENING TIMES Saturday, April 25, 2015 – 8:30 pm – TIFF Bell Lightbox Monday, April 27, 2015 – 6:30 pm – Scotiabank Theatre Saturday, May 2, 2015 – 6:30 pm – Scotiabank Theatre
Hot Docs 2015: Lowdown Tracks By: Sean Kelly | http://www.skonmovies.com/2015/04/hot-‐docs-‐2015-‐lowdown-‐tracks.html Hot Docs 2015: Lowdown Tracks
Homeless buskers in Toronto are profiled in Lowdown Tracks. All across Toronto are “home free” individuals, who struggle to make a living by playing on street corners and subway platforms. Many of these homeless individuals have troubled pasts and use music as an escape from their troubles. Filmmaker Shelley Saywell and singer and activist Lorraine Segato follows five of these buskers and sets out to bring their music to the masses. There are many different reasons why people end up living on the streets. Either they simply can’t afford proper accommodations or life has dealt them a bad hand. Even if these individuals do find a roof to live under, it can’t really be considered to be a “home.” These individuals are often looked down upon by society as a whole, even though they often have a very good reason for being on the street. To help escape how terrible these individuals’ lives have become, they express themselves by music. The goal of Lorraine Segato is to record the music of these individuals and make sure that their voice is heard. Lowdown Tracks is a film that highlights these talented musicians, who just happen to be in a poor economic situation. It is practically impossible to make a living solely from busking and there are also very few reliable support options for the homeless. With cities forcing the homeless out of public areas and shelters being less than ideal, there is no place for these homeless individuals to go. While ultimately the film is about bringing the music of these individuals to the masses, including a series of recording sessions towards the end, Lowtown Tracks also works to destigmatize the homeless and show them as humans too. ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 | REALLY LIKED IT Screenings: • • •
Sat, Apr 25, 8:30 PM – TIFF Bell Lightbox 2 Mon, Apr 27, 6:30 PM – Scotiabank Theatre 3 Sat, May 2, 6:30 PM – Scotiabank Theatre 8
Lowdown Tracks Review By: Glenn Heath Jr. | April 25, 2015 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/lowdown-‐tracks-‐hot-‐docs-‐review-‐791132 Shelley Saywell's documentary about homeless and drifting musicians in Canada is narrated by activist Lorraine Segato
Walking down the street or strolling through the park, most of us have encountered pop-‐up musical performances by those who’ve fallen on hard times, possibly listening for a moment before continuing with our day. In the Toronto-‐based documentary Lowdown Tracks, director Shelley Saywell refuses to keep walking. Instead, she fixes her camera and listens, giving these musicians a platform to tell their stories and share their songs. The music often speaks for itself. Melodies about loss, addiction and abuse are haunting reminders that homelessness is a complex situation with multiple roots and causes. That these performances take place in various urban spaces makes them even more resonant. Still, instead of taking a verité approach to the material and letting these notes drift into the air unfiltered,
Saywell allows musician and social activist Lorraine Segato to act as both narrator and interviewer, a decision that ultimately compromises the film’s emotional veracity. Whether it’s listening to Wendell “Woody” Cormier speak about experiencing electroshock therapy or Maryanne Epp weep in front of a memorial for deceased homeless people, Saywell seems genuinely interested in the stories themselves. She films five very different subjects ranging in age and life experience, weaving together their confessions and musical talents in order to demystify the perceived helplessness of their situation. During these segments Segato consistently calls attention to her own important role as an archivist of street music, more specifically a project that she is spearheading to record songs by street musicians. One would think the two interests are inextricably linked, but in Lowdown Tracks the push-‐pull between these objectives creates a shaggy and inconsistent pace, not to mention a muddled narrative arc. Is this film about homelessness or curation? It never really makes up its mind. “It was music that brought us together,” says Segato during the film’s opening scene where she locates a banjo-‐wielding drifter named Bruce Bathgate. Immediately, her relationship with the subject becomes manipulated by a sense of fate that rings false. It’s this type of heightened, flowery voice-‐over that distracts the film from genuinely embracing the obvious humanitarian issues being described onscreen. Whenever performers like the curly-‐haired guitar player Anthony Van Zant and angel-‐voiced Katt Budd are allowed the freedom to express themselves both musically and verbally, Lowdown Tracksflourishes as a social-‐justice film. The life experience each has gained over the years poignantly destroys stereotypes perpetually associated with homelessness. “It doesn’t take much for you to lose yourself out there on the streets,” says Woody. Music has enabled him and the other subjects to combat this natural erosion of self. Lowdown Tracks embraces Segato’s faux-‐humanitarianism in the final moments by documenting her musical recording sessions with each subject, brought in one by one like lost puppies finally being given a home. Again, this feels like more of a spotlight on Segato’s efforts than anything. Many tears are wept, smiles momentarily beam, but once their voices are captured digitally Woody, Katt, Maryanne, Bruce and Anthony are ushered out the door. What’s next for them is anyone’s guess. Production companies: Bishari Films Starring: Bruce Bathgate, Lorraine Segato, Maryanne Epp, Anthony Van Zant, Katt Budd, Wendell “Woody” Cormier Director: Shelley Saywell Screenwriter: Shelley Saywell Producers: Shelley Saywell, Deborah Parks Cinematographers: Michael Grippo, John Tran, and Deborah Parks Editors: Deborah Palloway Rating NR, 86 minutes
Lowdown Tracks: UrbanToronto at HotDocs By: Craig White | April 27, 2015 http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2015/04/lowdown-‐tracks-‐urbantoronto-‐hotdocs We usually rush by without stopping. Not always though, sometimes we stop and listen for a few seconds, and sometimes we even manage to dig some coins out of our pockets. Lowdown Tracks, playing at HotDocs this evening and again on Saturday, takes you on a journey with Lorraine Segato, singer, songwriter and member of the Parachute Club, onto Toronto's streets and through our subway stations to get to know some of the people who serenade us on a daily basis. Lorraine Segato fins music in the streets, image courtesy of Bishari Films The life of the typical busker or street musician is not an easy one—even if they are one of those chosen by the TTC for the Subway Musician Program—but as Shelley Saywell's powerful film shows us, there are some remarkable stories there, and some great music. Saywell and Segato introduce us to a half dozen of Toronto's street musicians and the typically tough situations they face, often in the city's inadequate shelter system, sometimes without any social services they can depend upon, and finds a deep well of humanity expressed in eloquently written and passionately performed songs. Each drawing upon their own expertise and experience, Segato and Saywell become activists, raising awareness about a tide of homelessness in Toronto and offering hope and a hand up to people whose voices should be heard. There were very few in the audience at the Saturday night who didn't leave inspired—and generally far better informed—and now better armed to be able to help as well. This is a Toronto you've probably walked right by, and one that Lowdown Tracks will help you understand so much better. Highly recommended. Scotiabank Theatre 3, Mon, Apr 27, 6:30 PM Scotiabank Theatre 8, Sat, May 2, 6:30 PM
Review: Homeless buskers are the endearing subjects of 'Lowdown Tracks' By: MICHAEL THOMAS | APR 28, 2015
http://www.digitaljournal.com/a-‐and-‐e/entertainment/review-‐the-‐music-‐of-‐lowdown-‐tracks-‐ will-‐haunt-‐you/article/431955
In Toronto, a common pedestrian experience is walking around and ignoring the city's homeless population. 'Lowdown Tracks' looks at several homeless subjects trying to make some money busking.
Buskers are widespread throughout Toronto, playing in the subways and outside of many buildings. Lowdown Tracks gives a voice to the voiceless in a film filled with music and stories about the struggles of living on the streets. Director Shelley Saywell gets some help from Lorraine Segato, lead singer of the
legendary Parachute Club. Segato and Saywell travel across Toronto, getting the stories of several buskers around town. Mary Lynn, with the "voice of an angel," has stayed in 23 shelters over seven years across three provinces; Wendell "Woody" Cormier sings wayfaring songs as he struggles to reconcile his demon-‐filled past; Katt sings intensely personal, soul-‐filled songs as she tries to make ends meet and bring her kids back into her life. The music from this endearing cast of characters becomes stronger in the context of the struggles they face on a day-‐to-‐day basis, and Segato brings some of their songs to higher levels toward the end of the film, when she invites them to record in her studio with the Parachute Club band. But what speaks louder than the music is undoubtedly the situation the homeless — especially homeless buskers — face in one of Canada's largest cities. Bruce Bathgate reveals his problems getting help with community housing; by Toronto law, having a busking license denies him the ability to get affordable housing. Katt talks about Toronto's busking licensing system, which gives the city's "top 50" buskers a license for three years. Auditions are "like Canadian Idol" in Katt's words. Once approved, a musician gets shifts every three days in different subway stations. The highly transitory nature of the job is undoubtedly hard on buskers, who are already constantly moving around. Talking about this film objectively is a tricky task, as the film makes it impossible to not feel sympathy for what these musicians go through daily. At a Q&A after a Monday evening screening, all the musical "cast members" were on hand to answer questions and spoke of how the film gave them hope for the future. Segato said she hopes to release an album of these musicians' songs, and asked residents to lobby their councillors to change the "no housing for buskers" law. Lowdown Tracks will screen once more at the Hot Docs film festival on May 2. All of Digital Journal's coverage of this year's festival can be found here.
10 Music Documentaries You Need to See at Hot Docs By: Aaron Zorgel | March 17, 2015
http://ca.complex.com/music/2015/03/10-‐music-‐documentaries-‐hotdocs/ From April 23rd until May 3rd, the biggest documentary festival in North America returns to Toronto, presenting 210 titles from 45 countries. HotDocs stakes its reputation on showcasing unique stories from an extremely diverse number of subjects, and there’s always a wide variety of music documentaries to choose from. This year’s programming highlights include a tribute to the late DJ AM, a portrait of tweenage metal band Unlocking The Truth, and the first authorized documentary about the life of Kurt Cobain. Here are 10 music documentaries you need to see at this year’s HotDocs film festival. For the full schedule, and ticketing information, visit the HotDocs website.
Lowdown Tracks
Passion, talent and tragedy combine in the performances of five transient musicians who busk for change on Toronto’s streets. Their songs of survival and stories of life on the margins deeply resonate, with help from The Parachute Club's Lorraine Segato.
Hot Docs will open with film about comic Tig Notaro By: Linda Barnard | March 17, 2015 http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2015/03/17/hot-‐docs-‐will-‐open-‐with-‐film-‐ about-‐comic-‐tig-‐notaro.html
Among the films are several world premieres from Canadian directors including Rama Rau’s No Place to Hide: The Rehtaeh Parsons Story and Toronto filmmaker Shelley Saywell’s Lowdown Tracks, about five transients who are also street musicians. Saywell was inspired to make the film after seeing Toronto musician and filmmaker Lorraine Segato of The Parachute Club invite homeless people onstage to perform with her at a concert some years ago. “It blew me away and I wanted to know what their stories were,” said Saywell. “We’re trying to reframe the way we see and house homeless people. Everybody does have a story,” said Segato, who narrates much of the doc and interacts with the subjects onscreen. “Their songs are the mantras they use for themselves to survive everyday,” she said. “You see music and you see their stories in a completely different way.”
Hot Docs 2015
By: Paul Ennis | March 31, 2015
http://www.thewholenote.com/index.php/newsroom/blog/music-‐and-‐the-‐movies/25403-‐hot-‐ docs-‐2015
The 22nd incarnation of the Canadian international documentary festival known as Hot Docs runs from April 23 through May 3 at various locations in Toronto. If you look carefully in Section E: The ETCeteras, beginning elsewhere on this page, you will find an entry for it in the Screenings section. Here are details on many of Hot Docs’ 17 music-‐ centric films.
Lowdown Tracks: According to programmer Alex Rogalski, filmmaker Shelley Saywell and singer and activist Lorraine Segato of The Parachute Club, inspired by depression-‐ era recordings of early American folk songs, set out to document a new catalogue of songs and stories from five of Toronto’s modern troubadours, unknown buskers whose songs fill subway platforms and street corners and whose personal histories vary as much as their voices. A soundtrack evolves from the island ferry docks and freeway underpasses, rooming houses and rooftops, showing us that music is the common language in this empowering celebration of survival. April 25, 27, May 2.
Hot Docs 2015: What films you should see at this year's festival By: Jim Slotek | April 18, 2015 http://www.torontosun.com/2015/04/18/hot-‐docs-‐2015-‐what-‐films-‐you-‐should-‐see-‐at-‐this-‐ years-‐festival We look at 13 films ahead of Canada's premiere documentary film festival LOWDOWN TRACKS: Here’s a revelation by documentarian Shelley Saywell and Parachute Club’s Lorraine Segato. There is amazing musical talent among Toronto’s homeless and disadvantaged (often, the music is their only anchor of sanity). Lowdown Tracks posits that a new tradition of down-‐and-‐out poets is in play among our underclass a la Woody Guthrie. Whether you buy that or not, the movie’s payoff – when several streeters get full recording sessions for their original songs – is wonderfully moving.
The top 20 films to see at Hot Docs 2015 By: Sima Sahar Zerehi | April 13, 2015 http://www.blogto.com/film/2015/04/the_top_20_films_to_see_at_hot_docs_2015/ Lowdown Tracks You've seen them on street corners and subway platforms, the often-‐unknown musicians that lay the soundtrack to our city. In this film Toronto filmmaker Shelley Saywell and The Parachute Club's Lorraine Segato look at five transient musicians who busk for change. This is a story about survival and the connections that art creates.
Hot Docs Festival taps into Virtual Reality By: Jennie Punter | April 24, 2015 http://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/hot-‐docs-‐festival-‐taps-‐into-‐virtual-‐reality-‐1201479466/ Hot Docs director of programming Charlotte Cook proudly points out that close to half the titles on the 2015 slate are directed or co-‐directed by women — from veterans such as Kim Longinotto (“Dreamcatcher”), Shelley Saywell (“Lowdown Tracks”) and Liz Garbus (“What Happened, Miss Simone?”) to first-‐time feature helmers such as Karen Guthrie (“The Closer We Get”), Anna Sandilands (who, with Ewan McNicol, just nabbed Tribeca’s Albert Maysles New Documentary Director Award for “Uncertain”), Brooklyn-‐based Jessica Edwards (“Mavis”) and her Canadian name-‐sharer, Toronto-‐based Jessica Edwards (“Stay Awhile”).
Hot Docs // Staff Picks: Brigitte By: Bridgitte Truong | April 26, 2015
http://www.chch.com/hot-‐docs-‐picks-‐brigitte/ CANADIAN SPECTRUM: Passion, talent and tragedy combine in the performances of five transient musicians who busk for change on Toronto’s streets. Their songs of survival and stories of life on the margins deeply resonate, with help from The Parachute Club’s Lorraine Segato. Directed by Shelley Saywell.
Reel Talk: Must See Films at Hot Docs 2015 By: Sonya Davidson | April 16, 2015
http://www.torontoisawesome.com/the-‐arts/film/reel-‐talk-‐must-‐see-‐films-‐at-‐hotdocs-‐2015/ Lowdown Tracks: Directed by Shelley Saywell. Canada. World Premiere.
Tells the story of a disparate group of street musicians. Homeless, home free, or living on the margins, they are the balladeers of the “lowdown” – telling it like it is. They have talent and passion and a different view of society, as seen from the curb. How did they get there, and how do they survive? Toronto musician and activist Lorraine Segato (Parachute Club) has made homeless relief her cause for years. Inspired by field recordings from the Great Depression, she launches a modern day project to record their songs. Shot and recorded from abandoned tracks, beneath bridges, inside shelters, rooming houses, rooftops and alleyways, Lowdown Tracks is both social commentary and a celebration of the power of music and survival.
HOT DOCS FEVER HITS TORONTO By: Marc D’Amico | April 23, 2015
http://www.weraddicted.com/hot-‐docs-‐fever-‐hits-‐toronto/ As April draws to a close in Toronto, film lovers are gearing up for one of the city’s biggest and most exciting annual film festivals…Hot Docs! The Canadian International Documentary Film Festival starts TODAY and runs until May 3rd, showcasing over 200 groundbreaking films from 44 different countries around the globe. The festival celebrates documentary cinema and its capacity to show us worlds that are beyond our normal spheres of existence, telling a multitude of unique stories from the intimately personal to the shocking, the revolutionary, and the inspirational. Over 200 directors and special guests will be in attendance to introduce their films and participate in entertaining and informative audience Q&As following their screenings. The Special Events program kicks off with tonight’s opening night premiere of the film Tig featuring comedian and star Tig Notaro,as well as the filmmakers behind this personal cinematic exploration of a year of her life. Hot Docs 2015 is set to be another fantastic year, and you don’t want to miss it! Be sure visit thefestival website for additional information and the full schedule, and don’t forget to grab tickets! In case it helps narrow your search, here’s a list of 15 films that I’m looking forward to this year: Lowdown Tracks (Dir: Shelley Saywell, Canada) – TRAILER Passion, talent and tragedy combine in the performances of five transient musicians who busk for change on Toronto’s streets. Their songs of survival and stories of life on the margins deeply resonate with help from The Parachute Club’s Lorraine Segato.
Hot Docs 2015 radiates with personal, high-‐stakes stories By: June Chua | April 20, 2015
http://rabble.ca/columnists/2015/04/hot-‐docs-‐2015-‐radiates-‐personal-‐high-‐stakes-‐stories Films for every taste There is a cornucopia of documentaries to chose from and it's impossible to encapsulate in one article. So, here are other films, in no particular order, for your consideration: Lowdown Tracks (dir. Shelley Saywell)
Unbranded Wins Audience Award at Hot Docs By: Linda Barnard | May 4, 2015
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2015/05/04/us-‐documentary-‐unbranded-‐wins-‐ audience-‐award-‐at-‐hot-‐docs.html
Runner-‐up in the Top 20 list of audience-‐chosen favourites was Canadian director Shelley Saywell’s inspiring Lowdown Tracks, where she teamed with activist-‐ musicianLorraine Segato to explore the lives of Toronto’s marginalized and homeless, who tell their stories through music. Lowdown Tracks plays Saturday at the Royal as part of Canadian Music Week. Watch listings for screenings of other Hot Docs 2015 titles through the year.
Hot Docs 15: Unbranded Wins Audience Award By: Manori Ravindran | 05.05.2015 http://realscreen.com/2015/05/05/hot-‐docs-‐15-‐unbranded-‐wins-‐audience-‐award/
Coming in second place in the audience poll is Shelley Saywell’s Lowdown Tracks, which follows five transient musicians who busk for change in Toronto, while Su Rynard’s The Messenger, which examines the declining population of songbirds, placed third.
Hot Docs Audience Award Goes to Unbranded By: Tish Iceton | May 4, 2015
http://www.chfi.com/2015/05/04/hot-‐docs-‐audience-‐award-‐goes-‐to-‐unbranded/
Hot Docs Film Festival, the largest documentary film fest in North America, wrapped last night. ’Unbranded’ won the Audience Award, ‘Lowdown Tracks’ from Canadian Director Shelley Saywell was runner up with audience votes. ‘Lowdown Tracks’ will play at the Royal as part of Canadian Music Week.
Hot Docs Wrap Up and Picks 05.04.2015 http://www.cinemablographer.com/2015/05/hot-‐docs-‐2015-‐wrap-‐up-‐and-‐picks-‐for.html
Before heading into my own picks for the best of the fest, Hot Docs announced today the results in a close race for the Vimeo on Demand Audience Award. The Audience Award winner isUnbranded by Philip Baribeau, which tells the story of four men riding from Canada to Mexico on Mustangs. The film edged out Shelley Saywell’s Low Down Tracks, one of the Canadian films that didn’t fit my schedule, which was up and down between first and second place since its premiere. Su Rynard’s songbird doc The Messenger gets third place.
All pictures taken by GAT at the festival are located here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/97627695@N03/sets/721576522 44571012
We gathered social media reactions generated at Hot Docs here: https://storify.com/gatpr/lowdown-‐tracks
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