It has been a long, strange journey for Elgin James, the writer and director of Little Birds, screening at 9PM this Thursday night at the Art Theatre. Running away from home, living on the streets of Boston, organizing a gang of punk rockers to beat up white supremacists, and doing a stint in prison are all part of a past that he’s not forgotten but, rather, transformed.
Drawing from his life, and with the help of some cinematic heavyweights, he has created a film that has earned him critical acclaim, and strong reactions from audiences.
“I was basically discovered by Robert Redford and Michelle Satter of the Sundance Feature Film program, and had gone to their screen writing and directing labs—basically my film school—and that’s where I really had my life changed. After a lifetime of violence I was able to learn a skill to express myself in a different way, so when we got to premiere the film at the Sundance Film Festival it really felt like coming home.
“Since then, being able to travel and show the film has felt incredible. It’s nerve-wracking every time the film begins. It’s more than just like my diary up on the screen. It’s like an MRI of my soul, and now I’m sharing it with hundred of people. But afterwards, when I actually get to talk to people and connect, and see or hear how they were affected by it, it’s the greatest feeling in the world.
“Originally, the story was going to be the true story of me and my best friend leaving our small towns and ending up homeless in Boston where we helped form a street gang. But I was worried about glorifying a lifestyle I’d just crawled out of. At the time I wasn’t sure how I felt about the violence I’d embraced for the majority of my life. I just knew I didn’t want to sensationalize it and lead people down the same path. So, instead, I made our characters two fifteen year old girls. That way I could I could actually be more emotionally honest and go deeper than if I was writing about me and my friend. I could get to what was underneath, that two teenage boys usually aren’t able to verbalize.
“At that age I couldn’t verbalize much besides ‘fuck you,’ or ‘I don’t care,’ but I wanted to be able find a way, through one character, to verbalize how I felt: I was suffocating in that town. I wanted to escape and feel the rush of concrete and the city and adrenaline. Through the other character, I wanted to be able to express how I never realized what I had. What I wouldn’t give to be able to go back, be playing in the back yard, and have my mom call me in for supper. But I escaped, and got out into the world, and it was waiting with it’s sharp teeth bared.”
The film does not overtly draw on larger issues of political unrest or social upheaval.
“Instead, I try to express things in a personal way. Race issues, as well as animal rights, are very important to me personally, and that becomes layered in the work. It’s impossible to not have the stuff come bubbling to the surface, but the film isn’t about either of those things. It’s about friendship, and who’s there when the bottom falls out.
“But living in a country so bitterly divided, all you can do is hope that it becomes an incredibly creative time. Conflict creates great art. Punk rock, to me, was at it’s greatest when Reagan was in office. And while the country was in a better place with Clinton, I’m not sure we were, musically. Hootie and the blowfish never changed a kid’s life, at least not for the best.”
Thursday’s screening, which will include a Q&A with James, is the final stop on the film’s whirlwind tour. It has special meaning for him.
“California was always the promised land to me. I think most East Coast kids feel that way, especially growing up listening to punk rock. And Long Beach was the first place in California I ever came to. When I was touring in punk bands we’d come and stay at the House of Hate on Carroll Park East, where members of All Day, Cadillac Tramps, Manic Hispanic and other Long Beach punk bands lived. So, while I live in Los Angeles now and love it, Long Beach is where a large part of my heart is. And my best friend, Mindy Henderson, who had a huge part in making Little Birds happen—and is in the film—lives in Long Beach, as do some of the skaters in the film. We thought it’d feel like a nice coming home to end Little Birds‘ run at the Art.
“The film had it’s theatrical run in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia I believe. This is the end of the theatrical run. I feel like my California dream started in Long Beach, so I wanted the film to come home there.”
James is in the midst of doing research for his next project, and has others in the works.
“I was so lucky and blessed to get to make Little Birds. I was surrounded by people who believed in me, and who championed me. Now, it’s about proving that they backed the right horse.”
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Advance tickets for the screening are available at Lola’s Mexican Cuisine, located across the street from the Art Theater. Tickets will also be available at the door on the night of the event.
Learn more about Little Birds at LittleBirdsMovie.com.
To find out what’s showing at the Art Theatre, visit ArtTheatreLongBeach.com.
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