Catherine Hardwicke on Street Smart 

Venice, Teen Vulnerability, and Empowering Young Filmmakers

We had the chance to talk with Catherine Hardwicke at the 22nd LA Femme International Film Festival, where she won the Best Director Award for her new film Street Smart, co-written with Nic Sheff (Beautiful Boy) and set in Hardwicke’s own Venice neighborhood.

Held this year at Regal Theaters in the legendary Sherman Oaks Galleria, the festival was set right at the crossroads between the locations where Hardwicke shot her debut feature, Thirteen (which won the Directing Award at Sundance), and the Westside streets where she filmed Lords of Dogtown and her new film, Street Smart.

Known for her relatably raw, realistic depictions of teen angst, Hardwicke talked with us on the red carpet before the screening. We asked her what continues to inspire her about Los Angeles youth culture, and asked for her most intuitive advice for underrepresented and marginalized directors aspiring to tell their own stories today.

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Chosen Family

Lovingly dubbed “The Homeless Breakfast Club,” Street Smart centers on a resilient group of unhoused young adults surviving day to day. They busk, borrow, barter, and “rebalance” the economy by nicking valuables from people who can afford it to share with those in their community struggling even more than they are. They are funny and endearing with a vulnerability that you can’t turn away from.

When they find out the city is going to clear their camp, they take a long shot at a record deal to lift them off the streets, a move that catapults them into a situation that threatens to tear them apart. The film doesn’t pull punches; it honestly addresses addiction, mental illness, veteran’s PTSD and violence. But at its core, Hardwicke and Sheff’s script highlights the deep compassion and loyalty shared by people who’ve been there. This crew rises and falls together in ways only a chosen family can.

Capturing the Eclectic, “Street Smart” Sound

KCRW DJs and music supervisors Chris Douridas and Nassir Nassirzadeh curated a brilliant, “street smart” soundtrack that blends the film’s energy with a roster of emerging voices anchored by three tracks from LA-based hip-hop artist Kabwasa: “Sprint,” “Tore Up Jeans,” and “In My Head.” Reflecting the film’s deep local roots, the project features original music written and performed by the cast. Tyson Ritter penned “Sandbox” (performed by The All-American Rejects), and Paris Jackson delivers “Teenage Drama,” a track co-written with Linda Perry. Jonathan Jason Green performs “KREAM,” a song written with Gage Brown, and the film’s Isiah Hilt wrote “Better Days,” performed with Xavier Overton.

The original music Isabelle Fuhrman performs “Rewind” and “Brand New You” was written by artist Angélica Garcia, who helped capture the perfect edge to her character Ali’s songs.

The score composed by Nick Urata (Little Miss Sunshine) gives the film a feel that could only be LA. This soundtrack will join our LA film scores collection alongside Valley Girl, Pulp Fiction, Straight Outta Compton, and, please don’t kill us, La La Land.

A Love Letter to Venice

Hardwicke calls the film a love letter to her Venice neighborhood, and in a Q&A following the screening, she talked about why she loves the spirit of independent filmmaking and all the different forces that came together in her community to make this project happen—well aware of the economic diversity and disparity that makes Venice (and LA) such a bloody hard and absolutely glorious place to make art.

The beautifully cast ensemble includes Isabelle Fuhrman, Yara Shahidi, Michael Cimino, Miles McKenna, Paris Jackson, Virginia Madsen, Marcia Gay Harden, Skeet Ulrich, Isiah Hilt (a professional skateboarder in his first acting role), and national treasure Sally Struthers in a performance we believe should earn her a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

Street Smart Official Trailer 

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