Review: THE STROLL
by Karen Pecota

USA | 2022 Directors: Kristen Lovell & Zachary Drugger

The HBO network will showcase the documentary THE STROLL that the Sundance Film Festival 2023 awarded as a winner in its US Documentary Special Jury Award category. Filmmakers Kristen Lovell and Zachery Drugger share the story of how gentrification displaced the residents of New York City's Meat Packing District which they knew of firsthand.

Lovell heard that ideas for a documentary about New York's Meat Packing District was in the wings but was not sure what type of story would transpire. As a resident of the district, she felt compelled to shed light on the livelihood in which she participated. This desire motivated her to pursue filmmaking. Lovell, a Transgender female, wanted to have control of her own story and narrative of Trans-community that lived and worked in the historic area of New York City. THE STROLL is her directorial debut and shares the process of how the district ebbed and flowed from safety to danger, to safety and beyond, among the lives described as sex workers.

A fascinating exposé of lives saved and lost within a community that longs for acceptance in order to be able to live in peace, share the love and count on a safe existence.