Martin Bell (born January 16, 1943) is an American film director best known for films such as ''

Streetwise Streetwise may refer to: Knowledgeable *Streetwise, possessing knowledge of youth culture, also called "street" *Streetwise, possessing know-how (practical knowledge), as opposed to ivory tower or book knowledge, knowledge on how to succeed throu ...

'' and '' American Heart''. He was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Documentary The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is an award for documentary films. In 1941, the first awards for feature-length documentaries were bestowed as Special Awards to '' Kukan'' and '' Target for Tonight''. They have since been bes ...

for ''Streetwise''.

Career

Documentaries

In 1983, Bell's wife, photographer

Mary Ellen Mark Mary Ellen Mark (March 20, 1940 – May 25, 2015) was an American photographer known for her photojournalism, documentary photography, portraiture, and advertising photography. She photographed people who were "away from mainstream society and t ...

, was hired by

Life magazine ''Life'' (stylized as ''LIFE'') is an American magazine launched in 1883 as a weekly publication. In 1972, it transitioned to publishing "special" issues before running as a monthly from 1978 to 2000. Since then, ''Life'' has irregularly publi ...

to photograph a story on homeless children in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

with writer Cheryl McCall. The essay was titled "Streets of the Lost" and was published in July 1983. Having befriended many of the homeless children, Mark contacted her husband who flew to Seattle to document them on film. The project was eventually released as the documentary film ''

'', which was subsequently nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for Best Documentary Feature in 1985. Bell and Mark continued to document the ongoing struggles of one homeless child, Erin "Tiny" Blackwell, throughout her life. Their work on Blackwell was featured on ''

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'' and resulted in the feature-length documentary follow up ''Tiny: The Life of Erin Blackwell'', which was released theatrically in 2016 and on home video by the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of arthouse film distributo ...

in 2021.

Feature films

Following the success of ''Streetwise'', Bell made his feature film debut with '' American Heart'' starring

Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He is known for his Leading actor, leading man roles in film and television. In a career spanning over seven decades, he has received List of awards and nominations received by ...

and

Edward Furlong Edward Walter Furlong (born August 2, 1977) is an American actor and former teen idol. He won Saturn and MTV Movie Awards for his breakthrough performance at age 13 as John Connor in James Cameron's 1991 science fiction action film '' Terminato ...

. Inspired by the father-son relationship between ''Streetwise'' subject Dewayne Pomeroy and his incarcerated father, the film was nominated for five

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

including Best First Feature for Martin Bell and won for Best Male Lead for Jeff Bridges. Bell subsequently made two more narrative features, '' Hidden in America'' (1996) and '' Brotherhood of Murder'' (1998).

Filmography

*''

'' (1984) *'' American Heart'' (1992) *''Tiny at 20'' (1993) - short *'' Hidden in America'' (1996) *''Brotherhood of Murder'' (1998) *''Twins'' (2004) - short *''Erin'' (2005) - short *''Prom'' (2010) - short *'' Tiny: The Life of Erin Blackwell'' (2016) *''Streetwise Revisited: Rat'' (2021) - short

References

External links

*
Martin Bell BFI
American documentary film directors Sundance Film Festival award winners Living people 1943 births {{US-film-director-1940s-stub