OSCAR®-NOMINATED DOCUMENTARY REDEMPTION, A POIGNANT LOOK AT THE LIVES OF STRUGGLING NEW YORKERS WHO SURVIVE BY COLLECTING BOTTLES AND CANS, DEBUTS THIS OCTOBER EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO & RECOMMENDED BY WHOM YOU KNOW Our Coverage Sponsored by Maine Woolens
REDEMPTION: Jamie
Photo Credit: Tom LeGoff/courtesy HBO
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REDEMPTION: Jon
Photo Credit: Tom LeGoff/courtesy HBO
The opening music of New York, New York surely is familiar, but that's where familiarity ends. In the pure hustle and bustle of New York, many are preoccupied with their own stressful lives and pass by the less fortunate with little thought. They may write out checks, attend charity galas and luncheons but how many people are aware of a real day in the life of someone that is so down in the dumps that their job has turned into collecting cans? What did they do wrong some with hardened hearts may say. The people doing this will surprise you, particularly Susan who was an IT star in her day. Even educated people are now doing this, and we're also surprised at the volume of soda/beer cans there are to keep all these people going. Watching a documentary that you might think would be depressing is exactly why you should see it: it has an eye-opening effect and will affect you in a big way: this is the New York that hopefully you personally do not know and will want to change.
What brought these people to this? Many answers emerge. Lack of strong family connections and isolation, the decline of the economy, and the decline of American manufacturing are some of the big answers. Were these people planning for the future? Could they? Though we mentioned some are educated, many of these can collectors used to work in factories, and simply cannot find a job. The unemployment level in America in addition to the underemployment level is the worst it has been since the Depression. The can collectors are simply doing the best they can, and at least it is clear that they are trying.
Real human connections come to the forefront and you'll find this incredibly touching. We admire how HBO shows reality at its clearest in their documentaries, which is one reason why they are the leading network in this category. It is better to be real than to spin the truth.
When we think of the word "canning" we think of peaches and pickles and summertime glass jars saving preserves for winter. That is the canning in our vocabulary. The canning is clearly different here, and unless we want this kind of canning to be a career choice in America, HBO awakens the public to inspire business leaders to find productive work for those less fortunate that clearly have the drive to do something and have a desire to be productive. Restaurants are closing. Factories are closing. It is so important to support small businesses and American manufacturing because this is one example of what can happen when people can't find work.
We found Walter, a Vietnam veteran, particularly sad as this is not the way Americans should be treating our Veterans. He's been canning for around ten years. We cover a lot of restaurants, and in particular we often feature small places. Charles, another canner, was once a cook in a restaurant as was Walter. They believe getting a job is like hitting the Lotto. They think of everything from a cup of coffee to a Townhouse in terms of how many cans they'd need to collect to afford it.
Most surprising of all is Susan, who hopes no one she knows will see her canning. Her degree was in computer science and who would ever think it would come to this. We found the Asian woman truly shocking that doesn't respect Susan, a white Jewish American, and only respects men. Canning brings with it territorial conflicts, and even some that steal bags of cans from other canners like the horrid actions of the ruthless Asian woman. You're going to be surprised by how much networking goes on in this canning community where some look out for others and a small kindness like a haircut and a shave can make a real difference. Some of these canners are parents, and their children who are not old enough to go to school come with them on the canning episodes. Your heart will hurt but your brain will be provoked.
Is this social darwinism or is this the price we pay for a horrible economy and leaders that are not getting us out of it? A lot of questions come up in watching Redemption by HBO, and we hope it moves people to action to make the world a better place. We wonder what these canning people do in the winter. You will feel much luckier about your life after watching Redemption. Bravo HBO for enlightening the world once again.
REDEMPTION: Susan
Photo Credit: Tom LeGoff/courtesy HBO
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While employed New Yorkers pass by in a hurry on their way to and from work, “canners” eke out a meager living on the sidewalks of the city by collecting empty bottles and cans and dropping them at redemption centers for five cents each. Former short-order cooks, computer-sales executives and factory workers, these men and women turned to canning after the economic downturn eliminated their livelihoods. Amidst the ongoing debate over income disparity in America, the timely documentary REDEMPTION looks at this growing army of jobless New Yorkers, whose treasures are found in trash, when it debuts MONDAY, OCT. 14 (9:40-10:20 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
Other HBO playdates: Oct. 14 (4:40 a.m.), 16 (11:00 a.m.), 19 (7:55 a.m.), 22 (1:15 p.m.), 24 (7:35 a.m.) and 26 (2:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdate: Oct. 16 (8:45 p.m.)
REDEMPTION is one of three nominees for this year’s Documentary Short Subject Oscar® debuting back-to-back Oct. 14 on HBO, along with “Mondays at Racine,” debuting at 9:00 p.m., and “Open Heart,” which debuts at 10:20 p.m. Other October presentations in the HBO Documentary Films fall series include “Valentine Road” (Oct. 7), “Life According to Sam” (Oct. 21) and “Seduced and Abandoned” (Oct. 28).
Before turning on the cameras, Emmy®-winning filmmakers Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill spent months on the streets getting to know the canners and gaining their trust. Despite their nontraditional livelihood, many canners have worked beside each other on sidewalks for years, forming a unique sense of community.
Walter, a 60-year-old Vietnam veteran, has been a canner for a decade, watching the number of canners soar as odd jobs that once supported the poor have disappeared. Like many unemployed canners, he equates the odds of getting hired for a conventional job with “hitting the lotto.” Joe, another canner, says that everyone seems to be down on their luck right now, while Susan, a former computer-sales executive who turned to canning when she couldn’t get by on Social Security, notes that the young people in the city hold the good jobs. “What are we supposed to do?” asks Nuve, a devoted mother intent on giving her children a brighter future.
The days are exhausting and the nights are dangerous for canners, especially those like Walter, who sleep in public places such as park benches or even the redemption centers. Lilly, a Chinese canner who speaks limited English, feels fortunate to have a home, but shares her tiny one-bedroom apartment with six others and frequently works through the night. The reality of life as a canner is so harsh that one ex-con considers arrests to be “rescues,” because incarceration means three meals a day, a bath and a job in a kitchen.
Says Susan, “I guess it’s survival of the fittest,” a sentiment echoed in the words and actions of the men and women who struggle to get by on the tiny sums the redemption centers offer them. Many have canned for years and have no reason to remain hopeful, yet they are, rising each day to sift through the waste of the city and survive another day.
“In the best of times for some, there is a growing army of New Yorkers who survive scouring the sidewalks and sifting through our city’s trash,” note Alpert and O’Neill. “As politicians debate whether life in New York is a tale of two cities, REDEMPTION shows the Dickensian conditions at the growing bottom of our city’s economy.”
Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill’s previous HBO projects include 2012’s “In Tahrir Square: 18 Days of Egypt’s Unfinished Revolution”; the Emmy®-winning “Baghdad ER” (2006); the Emmy®-nominated “Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq” (2007) and “Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery” (2008); the Academy Award®-nominated “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” (2009); and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award winner “Wartorn: 1861-2010” (2010).
For more information, visit: Facebook: facebook.com/hbodocs; Twitter: @HBODocs #Redemption.
REDEMPTION was directed and produced by Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill; edited by David Meneses; original music by Jonathan Zalben; cinematography and audio by Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill. For HBO: supervising producer, Jacqueline Glover; executive producer, Sheila Nevins.
