Homeless Documentary Comes to Modesto’s State Theater

By Eric Caine
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When Richard Anderson asked me whether I would be interested in helping make Homeless in Modesto II, I wondered whether he had forgotten my manifold deficiencies at film, most of which he had suffered with his usual  kind tolerance during the making of Homeless in Modesto I.

It’s impossible to refuse someone so magnanimous and good, but I did try to remind Richard that I’m not only inept and uninformed about film, I have an endless list of complaints about most every film I’ve ever seen about homelessness. Richard assured me he and Ben Hoover would handle the technical aspects and Frank Ploof would serve as chief consultant. My role for the most part would be to supply still photographs, of which I have a few thousand.

Richard Anderson at homeless camp, Bystrum, May, 2022
Richard Anderson filming at a homeless camp in Modesto in 2022

After a few weeks of back-and-forth about thematic elements, Richard and I found points of agreement regarding the misleading effects of slick videos about all the great things everyone is doing to manage homelessness. It helped that Richard had done extensive filming of people on the ground and thus knew first hand that, despite the expenditure of billions of dollars, we haven’t made much progress in getting people off the streets.

I had no idea, even a few months ago, how Richard, Ben and Frank could possibly communicate through film the deeply complex realities of homelessness in Modesto. On the one hand, homelessness is a simple matter of people in dire distress. On the other, it’s a tangled skein of misconceptions, misleading narratives, squandered resources, well-intentioned blunders, buck-passing politics, religious pandering and daily heroism by hired staff and volunteers with too few resources and too little leadership from local and state authorities.

What to do?

Homelessness in Modesto II won’t answer that question. It’s not preachy or didactic. Homelessness in Modesto II is more like a message found in a bottle sent by people stranded across the street, around the corner or down the alley. It’s also about the heroic work of all those who work for, volunteer, and support people with nowhere to go.

State Theater, Modesto, CA
State Theater, on J Street in downtown Modesto, Ca

I don’t know how Ben Hoover, the genius behind Fog Light Media, Richard Anderson, Modesto’s great giver of light, and Frank Ploof, our spirit guide on everything homeless, managed to capture on film so many of the otherwise incommunicable realities of homelessness in Modesto. I just know they did it, somehow. I’ve seen the first draft. It’s a must see, ground-level view of stark realities so many of us have never imagined.

Homelessness in Modesto II is showing at the State Theater in Modesto on November 13. Doors open at 5pm with a start time of 6pm. Tickets are $10, with all proceeds going to Family Promise.

Eric Caine
Eric Caine
Eric Caine formerly taught in the Humanities Department at Merced College. He was an original Community Columnist at the Modesto Bee, and wrote for The Bee for over twelve years.
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14 COMMENTS

  1. I’m very interested in seeing this film. I struggle with the idea that some haven’t the resources, for whatever the reason, to at the very least provide themselves with a safe living situation! I’d like to see this film,and maybe connect with someone who can give me an idea of how I can do my part, in a small way, to help one or more of these folks.

  2. Is there any way this will be shown again? Some of us have other event which is at the same time.
    Thanks for all you do for others, Eric.
    I would like to see this shown in Merced also.

  3. So grateful for people taking the time to make this film. I work with people with substance use disorders and co-occurring disorders. I hope this film will depict the struggles that people go through just to get through the day. Life is not kind, that’s why we need to be kind to one another.

  4. I can’t phyically attend “homeles” picture because of sickness. Bought tickets to help. You can too! Modesto City and Stanislaus County have been less than helping the homeless but will point to various “housing” for them. In my opinion, they bypass the many problems that created homeless. Blinders created by decades of info directed that focusess on drugs, liquor, laziness and personal upkeep. Who keeps clean living in the dirt! Modern thinking places homeless beyond the regular thinking of todays people just in looks. It’s hard to face the possibility they, homeless, could be you falling down on the great promise of capitalism. The great story says ” suceed only thru determination and perserverace no matter what”. Penniless is the great divider and lets face it LUCK,! Donate, attend and maybe find time to be a voice for the forgotten people that capitalism and luck have passed by.

  5. Eric, thank you for this article about our project. It was a pleasure working with you and the team. The plan is to have the documentary video posted shortly after the November 13 event at: HomelessInModesto.com

  6. A unique event will happen at the end of the film. There will be a Panel of 5 people, who will do a Q/A with the audience. They will be Ruby Hawke, who was homeless for 8 years but will soon finish her degree in social work; Dr James Kraus, M.D., who serves medical treatments every Friday at the Rock, a church in the Airport District; Nick Bavaro, Modesto City Councilman; Jim Stokes, who manages the Salvation Army Berberian shelter and the Low Barrier Shelter; and Miriah Brazil, Executive Director of the Family Promise of Greater Modesto. All proceeds from the event will go to The Family Promise.

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