We are the Children: Gay and Homeless in the Bronx

WE ARE THE CHILDREN A doco by James West. Watch the full version above. Or wanna do it in bite size chunks? Click on the parts below. ABOUT: This is a film about being gay and homeless in the Bronx; about family, when your real one doesn’t want you any more. Here, in New York’s poorest borough, teenagers follow strict rules: boys are men; women must behave like women. So you want to come out as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender in the Bronx? Be prepared to be kicked out. Don’t have 28 minutes right now? Watch it in chunks here:

Watch Part One: Demon & Irma

Watch Part Two: Life on the Streets

Watch Part Three: Finding Shelter

China Rocks America

Will this Beijing punk trio capture the hearts and minds of punters in the world’s biggest music market? This is the doco companion to the rock music chapters of Beijing Blur, my book about Chinese youth culture, published 2008. Shot in Beijing and New York City, the piece follows Rebuilding the Rights of Statues as they tour America – one of the first Chinese bands to ever do so.

Through The Cracks: Sichuan, One Year On

Rebuilding in China has been slow. Nearly a year after the Sichuan Earthquake killed 80,000 people, lack of government money and accountability, combined with thousands of aftershocks, is prolonging the suffering of those trying to pick themselves up and start rebuilding their homes. Check out this video of my recent trip through south western China, with NGO Sichuan Quake Relief. I’m experimenting with audio and video collage at the moment — an attempt to tell stories simply and visually without the need to crunch massive amounts of video.

Peter Gerakaris

Peter Gerakaris is a visual artists based in New York. His work captures the risks and dangers of nature in large format, surreal adventures in colour. This is a profile piece.