Hidden in Plain Sight: The San Francisco Poet’s Street-Corner Oasis
Samuel Robinson (UK/US 2017)
9min
On a street-corner, amidst the pigeons, San Francisco’s invisible stars shine.
Around 10pm to midnight each Thursday, at the nondescript intersection of 16th & Mission in San Francisco, regulars, newcomers, and intrigued passers-by gather around an intricate chalk circle drawn on a concrete plaza; a long-running freeform street happening welcoming poets, musicians, comedians, and all forms of creative expression is about to start.
The Corner' as it's known to the numerous regular patrons is an empathetic and accessible-by-design space to exercise San Francisco's best tradition of free expression. Offering community, solidarity, and a public voice for all it resonates with — it is an opportunity for those in the shadows to shine; creatively sharing the inner workings of their mind and experiences living in city witnessing rapid societal change and greater economic inequality.
This beautifully crafted non-narrated montage piece takes the listener right to the heart of this spot in San Francisco - it has a real Kitchen Sisters feel to it.