On Sunday, the Maryland Film Festival will host the premiere of “one of the most Baltimore films” the screening committee reviewed this year, according to the festival’s director.
“Squeegee,” co-directed by Baltimore locals Clarke Lyons and Gabe Dinsmoor, is a coming-of-age story that focuses on “the life woes and the triumphs of Baltimore youth” through the eyes of four squeegee workers, Lyons said.
But the film does not seek to answer the question of whether the four, who were minors at the time of filming, should or shouldn’t be standing on street medians and corners, holding washcloths and squeegees while looking for work.
“I think it’s the unveiling of humanity through the lens of Baltimore youth,” Lyons, 32, said. “I’m not trying to villainize or glorify the practice of squeegeeing. But I do seek to humanize the youth that partake in squeegeeing.”
Lyons and Dinsmoor have been working on the film since 2018. Lyons said they likely talked to hundreds of youth in that time, getting to know them and their stories. Many of them were kind and welcomed the directors into their lives, Dinsmoor added.
“I wanted to make this film to elevate squeegee workers’ stories in a positive way,” Dinsmoor, 35, said in response to written questions. “I noticed that there was this sort of propaganda in the media against them over the course of decades and thought they deserved better representation.”
KJ Mohr, festival director and director of programming of the Maryland Film Festival, said everyone on the screening committee, which has over 40 people, and the programming team was interested in showing the film, noting there’s usually more disagreement among members.
But the “gripping” nearly 90-minute documentary, which will be shown at The Parkway Theatre Sunday at 12:45 p.m., generated questions and conversation. Mohr said that’s exactly what the local film festival, now in its 25th year, is always looking for.
“You just really wanted to know where these stories were going,” Mohr said. “And most of us recognized these kids. They have squeegeed our cars and a lot of it takes place right outside the Parkway.
“It’s not just a local film – it’s hyper local,” Mohr added.
Mohr said about a third of the films on this year’s lineup are local or have local connections, which she said she believes is higher than usual.
“Squeegee” follows four young protagonists: Leroy Brown, Ericka Sparks, Desmond Rogers and “Peanut” Davis, according to a description of the screening. The inclusion of minors in the documentary and the ethical questions that raises about consent is part of what created disagreement amongst members of the screening committee, Mohr said.
But the young workers, who Lyons emphasized had the ability to say what they were and weren’t comfortable with, were given cameras and diaries to record their own lives. That integration led to a “wonderful, poetic blend of observational footage and participant camcorder footage” in the documentary, Dinsmoor said.
Some of the participating squeegee workers will be at the film premiere, which will be followed by a panel discussion.
Conversation in the city related to squeegee workers has often turned volatile, especially after a 16-year-old was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a man who confronted a group of squeegee workers with a bat; the jury found the teenager acted partially in defense of himself or others.
Dinsmoor said discussion and media coverage of squeegee workers is often “thinly-veiled racism” that he hopes community members will recognize and start conversations about after watching the documentary.
“I ultimately want people to be more empathetic to squeegee workers and Baltimore youth after watching this film,” Dinsmoor said.
The way the community discusses young squeegee workers can leave them feeling isolated and unheard.
But “Squeegee,” Mohr said, provides an in-depth, “loving, tender way of looking at these kids with their personal lives and looking at their hopes and their dreams.”
“When you think squeegee, you think Baltimore,” Mohr said. “It’s a raw display of Baltimore and who makes Baltimore what it is.”
