Sticks and Stones

USA
1996, 16mm, B&W, 18 min.

Director: Lori Silverbush
Producers: Lori Silverbush, Chris Sloben
Cinematographer: Robert Learner
Editor: Fanny Lee
Screenwriter: Lori Silverbush
Music: Mark Boccaccio, Rob Silverbush
Principal Cast: Tyson Burstine, Vanessa Hollingshead, Michael Skolnik

Sticks and Stones tells the story of Joey, a lonely eleven-yearold, who is the butt of cruel taunting on the part of three neighborhood thugs in his upstate New York factory town. Joey's unkempt appearance, his obvious lack of money, and his mother's unsavory reputation make him an easy target for the teenagers' jokes Joey's mother is a drug-addicted invalid, and to keep the older boys at bay, Joey has been supplying them with drugs. Sticks and Stones opens on the day that Joey decides he's had enough.