FEEL IT.STREAM
Martin Bell

Martin Bell

Directing

Biography

Martin Bell is an American film director best known for films such as Streetwise and American Heart.

Known For

American Heart
6.3

An ex-convict is tracked down by his estranged teenage son, and the pair try to build a relationship and life together in Seattle.

American Heart

1992
Streetwise
7.6

This documentary about teenagers living on the streets in Seattle began as a magazine article. The film follows nine teenagers who discuss how they live by panhandling, prostitution, and petty theft.

Streetwise

1984
Hidden in America
5.3

Story of a man whose pride in being the head of his family won't let him accept help from his sick daughters doctor. He has to prove to his kids that even with the death of his wife and the loss of his job that they can and will survive. After hitting brick wall after brick wall comes a glimmer of hope.

Hidden in America

1996
Brotherhood of Murder
4.5

Set against the backdrop of the true story of the largest cash robbery in the history of the USA.

Brotherhood of Murder

1999
No image
10.0

During the filming of Ragtime, the 81-year old Cagney talks about his career. Cagney tells us about becoming a dancer and meeting his wife, his route from Broadway to Hollywood, the emergence of his tough-guy persona, and his post-war creations of insane characters.

James Cagney: That Yankee Doodle Dandy

1981
Streetwise Revisited: Rat
6.0

Filmmaker Martin Bell reconnects with Rat, one of the subjects of his 1984 documentary STREETWISE.

Streetwise Revisited: Rat

2021
No image
N/A

This special documentary chronicles Billy Joel's 1987 concert tour in the Soviet Union. The program features concert footage and clips of Joel and his band interacting with different groups of Soviet people.

A Matter of Trust: Billy Joel in the USSR

1988
Tiny: The Life of Erin Blackwell
7.0

Filmmaker Martin Bell chronicles the life of Erin Blackwell, mother of 10 children, from the time she was a 14-year-old prostitute through her battle with drug addiction, poverty and parenting.

Tiny: The Life of Erin Blackwell

2016
Alexander
N/A

A story about an extraordinary 11 year old boy and his community.

Alexander

2006
Marillion: Recital of the Script
6.9

Recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, 17th and 18th of April 1983. Originally, the video was released along with a video EP of the 'missing tracks'. The remastered DVD puts the entire show back together again. DVD extras were recorded at the Marquee club in London, in December 1982.

Marillion: Recital of the Script

1983
The Very Best of Sheryl Crow: The Videos
8.0

Contains the following music videos: All I Wanna Do Soak Up The Sun My Favorite Mistake The First Cut Is The Deepest Everyday Is A Winding Road Leaving Las Vegas Strong Enough If It Makes You Happy Run, Baby, Run Steve McQueen A Change Would Do You Good Home There Goes The Neighborhood Anything But Down The First Cut Is The Deepest (live) *todo fix order

The Very Best of Sheryl Crow: The Videos

2004
No image
N/A

Circus of Dreams follows the life of 11-year-old Pinky as she practices under the supervision of her trainer, Pratap Singh

Circus of Dreams

1993
Twins
N/A

There are few things in life that engage the eye or are more mesmerising than identical twins. Every aspect of their appearance is remarkable from the exact duplication of their features right down to the exact position of their freckles. Each year in August, Twinsburg, Ohio, is host to a festival that attracts almost 2000 twins, triplets and quadruplets. It is an extraordinary gathering that Mary Ellen Mark and Martin Bell visited in the summer of 2001-2002 . Martin Bell made Twins in the summer of 2002, while Mary Ellen Mark was completing the photography for her book Twins. Mark’s studio was a tent, pitched on a volleyball court, at the Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio. When Mark finished photographing a set of twins, they were directed to a small studio behind the backdrop. The twins were interviewed in front of two cameras. The interviews were guided by a set of twenty questions, which Mark and Bell developed to provide a structure for the film.

Twins

2002
Prom
N/A

Prom is an American tradition—a rite of passage and one of the most important rituals of American youth; a day that is never forgotten—a day full of hopes and dreams for the future. For four years, from 2006-2009, filmmaker Martin Bell and photographer Mary Ellen Mark travelled around the country and documented proms. They went to twelve high schools in 10 cities, covering a wide range of ethnic and economic groups. While Mary Ellen Mark made portraits of the Prom-goers with the 20x24 Polaroid camera, Martin Bell interviewed the students in an adjacent studio. When the project finally came to a close, Bell had interviewed over three hundred students.

Prom

2010
Erin
6.0

Director Martin Bell revisits Erin Blackwell, one of the subjects of his 1984 documentary STREETWISE.

Erin

2005
Tiny at 20
6.0

Director Martin Bell revisits Erin Blackwell, one of the subjects of this documentary STREETWISE.

Tiny at 20

1993
The Amazing Plastic Lady
N/A

Between 1989 and 1990, photographer Mary Ellen Mark went to India to document the lives of circus performers—a journey that resulted in her book “Indian Circus,” published in 1993. In 1992, Mark and director Martin Bell returned to India to film many of the same performers. The resulting short, THE AMAZING PLASTIC LADY (1995), focuses on Pinky, a ten-year-old acrobat who, like the children in STREETWISE, lives on society’s margins. The film also continued Bell’s work with editor Nancy Baker.

The Amazing Plastic Lady

1995