When Academy of Art University student Johan Anstérus moved to the Tenderloin, he intended to purchase a television. But soon after settling in, he realized that people-watching from his window was entertainment enough—not to mention the perfect way to find the subject for his next documentary.
Anstérus moved to the Tenderloin from Sweden nearly two years ago to pursue a career in filmmaking. While staring out his Geary Street window, brainstorming the subject for a documentary assignment that spring, he realized that "Goldy"—the gold-dipped man he saw coming and going from a day of dancing in the streets—was the story he was seeking.
"He was walking home from Fisherman's Wharf, and he was carrying a gallon of milk and a six-pack," Anstérus recalled. "It looked like he was walking home from another day at the office."
Anstérus bolted from his second-floor apartment and caught the man before he could disappear into his apartment building next door. While he wasn't at all prepared to pitch the idea, Goldy, aka Ron Darden, quickly agreed.
"He said, 'If you buy me six batteries for my boombox I can tell you my story,'" Anstérus said.
After handing over the batteries, Anstérus spent the next few weeks following the street performer through his days, and—as his subject grew more comfortable—capturing intimate conversations about his 36 years dealing with life on the streets, alcoholism and drugs, and a fight with cancer, which he overcame.
"When I started filming Goldy, I didn't realize how big of a character he was," the filmmaker told us. "I was hanging out with him and a lot of people were telling me 'This guy is a true character of the neighborhood.' After figuring that out, it felt more like my obligation to tell his story because no one else has."
Rather than simply releasing the 15-minute documentary on the Internet, Ansterus hopes to reach a wider audience through film festivals. To do so, he's launched an Indiegogo campaign with the goal of raising $4,000 to cover the cost of post-production work to polish the film, and fees required to submit it to as many film festivals as possible.
"There's a lot of layers in the story. It became very personal to me too, because we established this connection and we became friends and he trusted me a lot," Anstérus said, noting that Goldy allowed him to film in his home even at times when he was feeling down. "I feel like it deserves a bigger audience than just the people I can reach through my Vimeo site."
Anstérus also assures us that he isn't looking to profit off of Goldy in any way. "I don't plan on making any money off the film," he explained. "That was never the object; it was just to tell the story." But, in order to produce a high-quality film, funding is necessary."No one wants to pay for this type of production; it's just up to yourself."
If you'd like to help Anstérus spread Goldy's story of life and struggle in the Tenderloin, his Indiegogo campaign runs for 20 more days and seeks to raise 3,250 more dollars in that time.
