2022 Benny

You Can Call Me Benny

You can call me Benny is a documentary about youth homelessness, featuring an optimistic young man named Ben. His story will be covered through the outside eye of his long lost friend David.

Youth homelessness has become an increasingly prominent issue in Ontario over the last 5 years. Whether due to personal or general economic factors, or those less tangible such as mental health, the issue has continued to worsen. YOU CAN CALL ME BENNY is a documentary which not only educates about youth homelessness with statistics and experts, but also shows the human face of the issue through my friend Ben, who has been struggling with homelessness since June of 2022. This participatory documentary will mostly involve myself and Ben traveling to locations which have played a key role in his life and his homelessness in a walk and talk style, all the while I will be stopping at each location to ask him questions. The interview coming from a friend will not only make him more comfortable, but hopefully let the audience feel closer to the subject by seeing the situation vicariously through myself. This is not only to tell his personal story, but to raise awareness for the topic of youth homelessness as a whole.

Our Subject

Meet Benny! Though currently homeless, he’s very optimistic, lighthearted, and humorous. Former competitive dancer and Rubik’s cuber, he’s a man of many talents. Through our film we will explore his journey and understand what it’s truly like to be homeless in our modern era.

B.T.S.

The Team

Yo I'm David! I met Ben when I was in third grade back in Sudbury. Until this year, I never thought I'd hear from him again. However, he reached out to me and told me he was homeless, so I felt I could try to tell his story by co-directing and co-producing this documentary!

Hiii I’m Bella, and I’m the DOP (Director of Photography) on this documentary! I’m so glad to be part of a doc that has such an important underlying message about youth homelessness, and I hope I can use my skills on camera to convey this powerful message visually.

Hello! My name's Brian and I'm co-directing 'You Can Call Me Benny'. It's been an extremely rewarding experience to work with our subject, Ben, and our talented and wonderful team. I'm very excited to show you this short documentary we've all been working so hard to make!

My name is Alex, and I am the gaffer on You Can Call Me Benny. As gaffer, I derive great pleasure out of my lighting my subjects, like only the best gaffers do. Some say they've never seen a gaffer gaff so hard before.

My name is Vuk Milutinovic, and I am the producer on "You an Call me Benny." It was very rewarding to work with such a great crew, and I think our film tells an important story that represents a greater issue affecting hundreds of thousands in Canada today.

Hi I’m Nick! I’m the production Assistant on You can call me Benny. I’ve always loved watching films and documentaries since I was young and feel super fortunate to be able to work with such talented people on this project!

Where To Learn More:

Youth Without Shelter: https://yws.on.ca

Empowering youth facing homelessness to reach individual potential.

The Homeless Hub: https://www.homelesshub.ca/about-homelessness/population-specific/youth

The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness is the largest national research institute devoted to homelessness in Canada.

Eva's: https://www.evas.ca/home/

Eva’s provides shelter, transitional housing, and health and well-being programming to help youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Toronto.