Kids (movie)
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Kids (1995) is a cult film about a day in the life of New York City teenagers and their sexual desire and sexual behavior during the emergence of HIV. It also depicts cannabis smoking. The original version of the film was rated NC-17, although an R-rated cut version is available. Because of its explicit subject matter centering around relatively young teenagers, the film has been highly controversial, though critically acclaimed.
Larry Clark's trademark is to use young, often unknown actors in his films. In Kids he used New York street kids with no previous acting experience to articulate his film, most notably Leo Fitzpatrick (Telly) and Justin Pierce (Casper). Some have faded back into the unknown, but others such as Rosario Dawson (25th Hour) have since seen success in their acting careers.
Gus Van Sant had originally been attached to the film as a producer. After he failed to generate enough interest in the film, he fell off the project. Producer Cary Woods then became involved and managed to find independent funding for the film. Harvey Weinstein of Miramax, wary of (or perhaps even pressured by parent company Disney's opinion of the risky screenplay), passed on funding the production of the film. After Cary Woods showed him the final cut, however, Harvey and his brother Bob bought the distribution rights to the film on their own, without Miramax/Disney money (much like they did for Fahrenheit 9/11). Today, Clark claims that while the film was relatively successful financially, he only received a modest amount of money, to the tune of $40,000, to make the film.