It was a Saturday night movie with friends, but it was far from the typical weekend entertainment.
Instead, members of several Seattle-area organizations had a specific purpose in mind when they came together to screen "Trollywood" last weekend at Keystone Congregational Church in Wallingford.
"It's a way to raise awareness of the homeless situation in Seattle," said Peggy Hotes, a member of Seattle Women in Black and Capitol Hill Neighbors for Peace and Justice. Hotes helped organize the screening as a benefit for Tent Cities 3 and 4, the Seattle-area homeless camps.
Banding together
"Trollywood," a documentary by Madeleine Farley, chronicles the plight of the homeless in Los Angeles, focusing primarily on the mentally ill, the chemically dependent and veterans. The film also was shown last month in Bellevue at a similar benefit to an audience of more than 75 and helped raised more than $500, Hotes said.
"I feel honored to be a part of this," said Anitra Freeman, president of Seattle Housing and Resource Effort (SHARE), a Seattle-based homeless advocacy organization that operates the Tent Cities. "People caring is the one thing that will change [the homeless situation]. This is an example of us caring about each other."
Lee Rhodes, a current Tent City 4 resident, echoed Freeman's sentiment: "I think people are pretty much aware of the situation. But if people want to end homelessness, we have to band together."
Seattle's Tent Cities
Current and former homeless people were also in attendance, and while all were in agreement that the screening was a worthwhile venture, opinion varied among them as to whether the film's portrayal of homeless life in Los Angeles was comparable to that of Seattle.
"It's not representative of SHARE or the Tent Cities," said Stan Burris, SHARE's vice president. The Seattle-area Tent Cities maintain strict codes of conduct that prohibits drugs, alcohol, abuse of any kind, weapons, and fighting, among other things. "But people who are visible are only a small glimmer of what really exists."
The short film "Temporary Dwellings" preceded "Trollywood" and followed the 1990 inception and short history of Seattle's original Tent City, immediately south of the Kingdome.
"When the first Tent City went up, we didn't know where we were going to. But it had to be something [done] now," Burris said.
City regulations usually prevent Tent Cities from being housed at one site for more than three months and can vary from city to city, meaning repetitive relocation is the norm for residents. "It's still the same now," Burris said.
A long-term problem
No further screenings of "Trollywood" are scheduled, but other SHARE benefits are upcoming, including the annual Harvest Time Auction in mid-October. For more information, call SHARE at 448-7889.
"[Tent City] is a short-term thing," Freeman said, "but we have to look at the short-term and long-term. Not everyone can do everything. We all choose our issue, or it chooses us."
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