SAWBUCK
productions
FEATURED INDEPENDENT FILMS
Abandominium
2021
This is an observational ethnographic film that chronicles the shared domestic life of four heroin injectors who live together in an abandoned building on the west side of Chicago. This film is currently being shown on the festival circuit but will be released in the future.
"The Family At 1312"
(Stiffy 2009 Award Recipient)
This film chronicles a matriarchal family system comprised of dispossessed, marginalized, drug addicted people who struggle daily to achieve balance between their individualistic pursuits and the need to rely on each other for survival.
Matrimony
2009
The film explores the marriage of Pony Tail Steve and Sapphire Pam, a heroin dependent, homeless couple in Chicago. "Matrimony" challenges the viewer to consider their assumptions about the institution of marriage.
The Brickyard: Home of All the Junkies 2006
This 23-minute documentary explores the lives of homeless heroin and crack addicts, sex workers, and drug dealers who inhabit a semi-concealed public space on Chicago's west side. The film offers a sneak peek into the feature-length documentary now in production.
Getting Normal
2008
This film contrasts the current experiences of methadone maintenance therapy patients with their past experiences as heroin addicts. "Getting Normal" goes beyond labels and slogans by demonstrating the day-to-day differences between the methadone and heroin lifestyles.
Step up to the viewfinder and watch art in motion as life unfolds at Hody's Two-High Diner, a social and cultural institution located where Chicago meets its near west suburban cit of Cicero. Sawbuck completed this film in 4.5 days as part of the 2010 International Documentary Challenge.
Cracked Quarters
2008
This film chronicles a typical day in the life of people who live in a crackhouse on Chicago's west side. It begins with the scoring and dividing up of an eight ball of crack cocaine. The camera follows the buyer, a high powered member of the drug using community, through her 24-hour trek through the maze of buying, selling, and using networks.
Begging for Grace
2006
Alternate rough cut of award-winning short documentary that chronicles the daily life of "Freeway," a heroin-addicted and homeless man on the west side of Chicago. Through his various hustles, from panhandling to copping drugs for nervous suburbanites who feel they have too much to lose by going into the drug neighborhoods to cop for themselves, Freeway serves as the "anchor" point at the intersection of the inner city drug world and the so-called "mainstream" suburbs.