Tarantino’s Basterds: The Homeless Filmmakers of Hollywood

“...This is where I should be. If I want to make movies in Hollywood I should live on the streets.” - Per “Pit” Ingvar Tomren

Joe Black, Bumdog Torres, Per "Pit" Ingvar Tomren: all filmmakers, all cinephiles, all living on the streets of Hollywood. They are each either obsessed or influenced by Quentin Tarantino in some way. Hence “Tarantino’s Basterds”, Pit and Torres hawk their films and merch outside of the Tarantino owned New Beverly Cinema. Using the funds raised not only to eat and survive but to produce their own films. Black has over 14 feature length films to his name, Pit has two, Torres has one.

Now this movie is presented as a “meta-mockumentary” so trying to decipher what is totally true and what is movie fiction is nearly impossible. I do know Bumdog Torres is an actual homeless man, we’ve been friends for years and his photography series and books have acclaim in real life. I am not totally sure about Joe Black or Pit. But the truth is, it doesn’t really matter. The story is naturally gripping and trying to determine what’s real and what is not is a worthless endeavor.

It’s inspiring to see how these artists keep this dream alive. Steeped in pure irony. These men sleep on benches advertising Tarantino’s newest feature “Once Upon A Time In...Hollywood”, settle down for a sandwich under Mr.Robot billboards or film an interview under a massive “First Man” banner. These are movies and productions with budgets that run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, employ thousands of people and take years to make. In one segment a conversation goes something like this Torres: How much did your last movie cost? Black: Six hundred bucks and from writing to release it was done in 28 days.

Continuing the deep irony, these guys are selling their movies outside of art house theaters. Here is a source of such a deeply rooted, beyond underground, untapped well of independent art at its most pure and gritty and these lines of patrons pay them no mind, let alone money. There are 30 people in line for a 35mm John Cassavettes film festival and not one of them will look up from their phones. Cassavettes would be ashamed.

The most beautiful thing about this “meta-mockumentary” is we see how fucked these guys really are living on the streets- artists or not, is no paradise, but their love for eachother and their craft gives them a purpose. A reason to stay alive, a reason to keep trying. It’s truly a modern day folk tale. There goes Bumdog the homeless filmmaker pushing his cart and oh there's Pit rolling away on his wheelchair with custom “Once Upon A Time In...Hollywood” rims.

This movie is impressive not solely because it was made by homeless artists, it’s impressive because it’s just a good film. With a two hour runtime that examines more than a love for film, but a passion for life, traveling, photography, and philosophy. I also love that no one points a finger at anyone else for being homeless, these guys know what got them there whether by choice or bad luck.
I’m not exactly sure how you can get your hands on a copy of this. Being friends with the director helped me, but if you look @bumdogtorres up on IG shoot him a message.