Sunshine Hotel

Such a well made film. Nate is a tremendous human being, he seems really enlightend. Not just that but a fantastic wordsmith. I wish we could get hold of his letters, he has such a mastery of language.

First watched this film many years ago but recently rediscovered it on Amazon Prime. It is a truly harrowing portrait of people that have fallen through the cracks of society and landed on skid row. The filmmaker shows great skill in his ability to treat these lost souls with sympathy whilst portraying the unfiltered reality of their dire existence. You can sense the time and care he has put into getting to know these unfortuante individuals, resulting in an incredibly intimate portrayal. A difficult watch at times, but a fascinating insight into the lives of those less fortunate.

I'm twenty years late to the game I guess. I just watched this eloquent documentary tonight and I felt extremely touched, enough to urge people to watch this. I feel more alive after viewing, it made me ask my myself some big questions and philosophize on the intricacies of life, the mind, relationships, chance, luck, will... so well pieced together and a great honest light point on some under represented human beings. Thank you for an inspirational film.

Interesting, disturbing, and tragic; the colorful centuries long stories of NYC's Bowery culminate (sort of) with the follow-them-around documentary of the residents of Sunshine Hotel. The "hotel" is a turn of the century former factory that has been broken off into rooms about the size of a broom closet; typically referred to as a "flop house". The men (and one trans female); are as different as night and day, but share a common bond; life has failed them in some way. Their day to day life is surrounded by substance abuse, mental health issues, trash, bugs, rodents,disappointment, loneliness, and shattered dreams. These guys make the best of their situation with sad, haunting matter-of-fact acceptance. Released just before 9/11/01, the irony of the transformation of NYC isn't lost on the viewer as we see the Twin Towers in the background.

Such a weird dichotomy of sadness & joy in this film. As someone who has never had an interest in any way of NYC, this film really inspired me to seek out some books on the untold stories of the city. You can really see how the weight of this massive city weighs on these people just driving the spirit out of them. Very well done piece, they should do an anniversary follow up.