Sweetheart Deal
November 22 - 27, 2024
Driven by their addiction to heroin, four women encounter friendship and betrayal while working Seattle’s infamous Aurora Avenue in this intimate portrait of hope, heartbreak, and resilience on the fringes of Modern America.
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North of the Space Needle, Lumen Field, and other Seattle landmarks lies the busy street that is Aurora Avenue. Along the strip, cars drive by various hotels and strip clubs, where men and women work in a haze of fluorescent lights and the smell of smoke, trying to make ends meet. This is where we find sex workers Tammy, Sara, Kristine, and Amy. This raw and unflinchingly honest documentary follows the lives of these four, and Elliott, the so-called “Mayor of Aurora,” as he helps them kick their drug habits to the curb. While Elliott takes these girls under his wing, deceit and manipulation brew in his beat-up trailer on Aurora’s side streets. Directors Elisa Levine and Gabriel Miller follow the man whom so many women call their “guardian angel” as his true intentions are unmasked, and intimately expose the lives of these women, labeled by society with words such as “prostitute” and “druggie,” showing us that they are so much more than that. They are mothers, daughters, friends, lovers. The audience will recognize the strength in Kristine, the optimism in Amy, the bravery in Tammy, and the determination in Sara. These women are warriors, and this is their story.
— Anika Bates
- Director: Elisa Levine, Gabriel Miller
- Principal Cast: Kristine, Sara, Amy, Tammy
- Premiere Status: World
- Country: USA
- Year: 2022
- Running Time: 98 min
- Producer: Peggy Case, Elisa Levine, Alan Pruzan, Tracy Rector, Joe Shapiro
- Screenplay: Karen KH Sim
- Cinematographers: Gabriel Miller
- Editors: Brittany Kaplan
- Music: Matthew Dougherty, LEMOLO, Joshua Myers, Tyler Strickland
- Website: Official Film Website
- Filmography: Debut Feature Film
- Language: English
- Format: DCP