I Am Another You

Before watching this documentary film, I read comments and observations from other viewers on and several other review only sites. So many reviews talked about the "beauty" of this film. A few spoke of hidden mental illness. However, no one mentioned how truly disturbing and ungrateful this "Dylan" is. He isn't free, nor is he the smiling, chilled out, hippy, street guy that the viewer first meets. As the film progresses we see how his "choice" to live on the streets in supposed "freedom" is an excuse to get drunk and receive countless handouts from people who fall for his initial guise of caring for humanity and living a life that is free to choose. One particularly disturbing example is when he throws away a bag (actually, he chucks it into the street!) of bagels because they prevent him in obtaining further cash from begging. He also lies quite a bit, whenever it suits him. The longer I watched, the more disgusted I became. This film made me angry. It's a film about someone who has a mental illness, it's called self-centered laziness. Dylan is not an idealist; he is a scam artist.

At first he is portrayed as a symbol of freedom and independent thinking, as well as a non-conformist and a role model..... And then it's revealed he is an alcoholic with mental issues.... Very common for homeless people, I feel bad for him but an 1 1/2 hrs documentary just for him is too much!! It should be 20 mins. Long max

I have a nephew that suffers from the same exact mental illness. Call it what you will. The filmmaker and most in this movie want to characterize Dylan's perception of the world as an elevated way of being, a higher plain of existence. The sad truth is that his logic (and those like him) is an endless loop of inconsistent prattling that never leads to any certain conclusions. Always on the edge of brilliance, but never really reaching an epiphany of any kind. He is very much schizophrenic. That's the plain, simple, painful truth of it all that many want to write off as misunderstood. My Nephew with the same issues, walks the earth, damaging relationships, spending time in jail, walking the earth, hearing voices, getting into arguments, suppressing voices with drugs and alcohol, etc, etc, etc.

Is that misunderstood genius? Trust me, it's not. Seeing it first hand and watching a wonderful boy grow into a delusional man is a sad and painful experience, but it is what it is. Untreated schizophrenia.

So many people who are homeless or live on the streets have stories to tell and it makes me so happy someone put their creative efforts into telling a story so a wide audience could see it. This film is amazing and very inspiring.

I am Another You was extremely well-received at Austin's SXSW Film Festival. It is a daring attempt by a Chinese director to explore the nature of homelessness in America by spending time traveling and living on the street with a homeless young man named Dylan Olsen. She actually spends a few weeks living with Dylan on the streets which is an amazing act of artistic commitment. The film takes a really interesting and somewhat unexpected path to explore the trials and tribulations of homelessness. I want give away the story arc. I will say the film was really touching to me, because I Dylan reminds me of college friend who also ended up homeless for similar reasons.

Director Nanfu Wang has done a beautiful job of presenting the story of homelessness through microcosm of one man's story. Sadly, we have all learned to dehumanize the homeless just so that we don't start crying each time we see a human being sleeping in the dust on street. This film gives us a chance to gain a better understanding of why people live on the streets. Dylan can help us personify and comprehend a larger problem. I hope this film is gains distribution so that more people are able to share Dylan's story. Additionally, I hope the film is used in schools to educate young people about the experience of homelessness. The level of homelessness in this country is a disgrace and addressing that problem requires educating the public about the underlying issues like mental illness and addiction that are interconnected with homelessness.