All language subtitles for I Am Another You-2017

- The world is my home,

and I just go
wherever I want to go.

I can wander around
and see so many things

and meet so many people.

Being lost
is where I'm found.

female narrator:
Filmmaker Nanfu Wang joins

drifter, Dylan, on his
adventure of self-discovery...

- Anywhere I am, something
likely amazing happens.

- So you're from Utah you said?
- Yeah.

narrator: Leaving
all expectations behind

to find the true
cost of freedom.

- The first time he called me,
he said, "Guess where I'm at.

Malibu."

I'm proud of Dylan,

but I think to myself,
"What are you doing, kid?"

No parent wants
their child to be homeless.

- I really couldn't
answer and say

when I'll be done
traveling in this way.

narrator: "I am Another You,"

now only on
"Independent Lens."

♪

♪

♪

♪

- I left China in 2011.

I left to find something

I'd been searching
for all my life.

Along the way I've learned
I'm not the only one looking.

Traveling was one of the few
freedoms I knew in China.

Every year since
I was 20 years old,

I would celebrate my birthday
by traveling to a new place.

I started this tradition
in China.

On my first birthday
living in New York,

I bought a one-way ticket
and went to Florida.

I was excited to document
every conversation I had.

- Welcome to America.
Like, this is--

This is what America is like.

- Since I was a teen, I just
wanted to grab a backpack

and go travel, you know,

not know where
I'm going to sleep

or who I'm gonna be with.
That excited me.

- Tell me what's
your next plan, travel.

- I'm going to South America
for six months.

- A few days in to the trip,

I stayed at a hostel
where I met someone

whose mode of travel was
different from anyone I knew.

- Oh, it feels so good though.

- Yeah!

- How do you spell your name?

- D-Y-L-A-N.

- Dylan?
- Dylan.

- And your last name?

- Olsen.

O-L-S-E-N.

- The first night I met Dylan,
we talked for hours

about our lives and travels.

What did you have when you
first, like, got on the road?

- An empty backpack
and no money.

I just began to travel
across the country.

- How can you pay the hostel
if you don't have money?

- I work for them.

I came here offering
my work for a place

to close my eyes at night
that was safe

and a place
to just be at peace.

♪

- So many people come and go,
it's hard to remember.

I do know that
when I first met Dylan,

I immediately identified
he was a street kid.

- How?

- Just because
he's a street kid.

You know,
you meet so many people,

you can see certain things,
it's evident,

and so we had a conversation

and made the agreement
that he would leave

all those survival skills
of the street behind.

They have no place here.

We identified
that immediately,

and it's very rare that we'll
allow that, but he's unique.

Very smart, very creative.

He's got one of the best
skills that you can have:

fearless in working,
fearless in doing.

- This is a very beautiful
cage, don't get me wrong,

but it is a cage.

♪

- I wanted to
experience the life

that Dylan described to me.

When he went back
to the streets,

I decided to follow him
with my camera

despite the fact
that I hardly knew him.

♪

woman: It says "no entry."

- We need a better map.

Being lost
is where I'm found.

Upon arriving, the path
that I'm happy to tread

when my shoes come off

and I experience that full
connection with the floor,

it's as if
I can breathe better,

observing everybody else
around in their entirety,

their passions,
their bizarre behaviors,

as well as their observing me
and my bizarre behaviors.

♪

There's no time
living in this sense.

I don't know
what day it is.

Every day is now.
Right now.

Every time is right now.

- I taught Dylan
how to use my camera

so he could document
my experience as well.

This was the first time
I ate food from a garbage can.

It was the beginning
of my short street life.

♪

- Wherever he goes,
he leaves an echo to show.

From the pitter-patter
of his feet

to the magic incantation
he speaks,

a man from the past
living in the present

so his presence is living
in the future,

yesterday, and tomorrow.

Last week
was seven years long.

♪

- A year?
- Mm-hmm.

- Why you choose
to be on the street?

- Hmm?

- Why you choose
to stay on the street?

- Well...
- Huh?

- I guess the only
objective is eating,

happiness, and community.

- What do you mean?
Eating?

- I mean, I feed myself,

and I keep a good attitude,

and...

kinda just go
wherever I want to go.

You wander around
and see so many things

and meet so many people

that none of that
could ever occur

if I were just
staying in one place

working for one person.

I've gone through quite a big
portion of North America.

I'm just exploring.
I'm just meeting people.

Hey, man,
you got a Sharpie?

I really couldn't answer

and say when
I'll be done traveling

or living on the street
in this way,

but anywhere I am, something
likely amazing happens.

- My name is Jared.
- Jared?

- And this
my brother here, John.

- Hello.
- My name is Dylan.

- Dylan, nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you, man.

- Yeah.
- My name is Nanfu.

N-A-N-F-U.
- That's cool.

So you're from Utah
you said, originally?

- Yeah. Yeah.
- What part did you say?

- Just north of Salt Lake City.

- Oh, did you grow up Mormon?

- Yeah. For a minute.

- For a hot minute?
- Yeah. For a hot minute.

- You're welcome
to stay the night.

- Neat.
- That's a pullout.

- She needs a good rest,
so--she's earned it.

- One of the first people to
buy here, like 1960-something--

- Jared had known us
for just a few hours.

- You guys want a beer?
- But he invited us home.

It had been days since
I slept under a roof.

- So I've been there.

You know, I've been
traveling by myself.

I've had no place to stay,
so I just figured

I'd extend a hand,
and I like him, you know?

You know,
he's a funny cat, man.

You know, he's young.
He's finding himself.

It's tough living a life on
the street and on the roads.

- Jared took us to dinner
that night.

I told myself one day
I'd come back and thank him,

but I don't even remember
where he lived.

- Am I in the camera?
- Yeah.

- A beer, right?
- A Budweiser please.

- Budweiser?
- Thank you.

Oh, okay.

Oh, okay.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

- I hadn't told my family that
I was living on the street

with someone I just met
and wasn't involved with.

They wouldn't understand
why a homeless person

would be worth following.

The idea that someone
would choose to be homeless

would be
inconceivable to them,

but this was
a kind of freedom

I had never
encountered before.

Everywhere we went,

I was amazed
by how many people

were interested in this life.

- Dy-lan or Dylan?
- Dylan.

- Dylan.
- Yeah.

- How long are
you planning to do this?

- I don't know, man.
I have no idea.

I'll see where
the road takes me.

- I'm just fascinated,
so what made you--

like, did someone else
do this

that you decided
to do it, or--?

- I wondered if
the presence of my camera

affected how people behaved,

so sometimes I would
retreat from Dylan

and wait until
something happened.

This guy met Dylan
in front of a coffee shop

while I was sitting inside
charging my battery.

They talked for hours,

and then he invited
Dylan to his home.

- We were just carrying
a conversation,

and we got something
in common with a hostel.

I stayed in a hostel
when I was in California.

I just decided doesn't hurt
to have some money if you can.

It just makes me
feel good to be able to--

Makes me feel good
if I can help somebody.

- What part of his story
interested you?

- Well, I guess the way--
choices he makes.

- Street life was free
and exciting for Dylan,

but it wasn't that way
for everyone.

Why were people so generous to
Dylan but not to the others?

I began to realize
the privilege of choosing

to be on the streets,
which includes both of us.

Thank you.

Who came to hear Ember
play tonight?

- Did anybody come to meet
with God tonight?

Well, we are glad
that you chose

to come here tonight.

Who has been here before

and decided
they might come back again?

All right, well, I think
we're in the right place.

So let's pray over the meal.

Father, I thank you
for tonight.

I thank you for...

- I just love--
I love humanity.

I'm here experiencing
humanity in its fullest.

- Do you have, like,
any type of, like,

legal issues
in your background

that would, you know, add--

I'm just curious--
to like--

- Nothing extreme.
- Okay.

- I mean, I made
a lot of mistakes.

By the time I was 14, I was
on heroin and selling drugs

until about 20 years old.

- I mean, I'm assuming
you probably have maybe

some high school or you
may have finished high school.

- Yeah, I finished high school,
did some college.

- Okay. Okay.

- I quit college
'cause, I mean,

I can learn more
in a library

than I could at a school,

studying what I'm
interested in for free.

- Yeah, the point
I'm trying to bring out

is that it's gonna be
that much harder for you

basically putting this
on your resume

when you're trying
to get a job.

I mean, I'm having
a hard enough time myself.

- I don't feel as
if I'm doing wrong.

Maybe I'm doing different
than anybody else

would think, but, man, I'm--

- Right. No, no it's--
- I'm whole.

- Right. No, I'm not
saying you're doing wrong.

- I know that. I know.

- But, yeah, no,
I'm just saying, you know--

- Just telling you
how I feel about it.

- You know, it just
seems like, you know,

like, the easier way out.

- Well, for now I'm only 22.

I feel like a 70-year old
person, 100-year old person.

I mean, I've been
through a lot.

I've lived through
a lot and experienced

a lot of beautiful
and ugly places.

- Right.
- Dylan told me later

that he was angry
for the condescension

he felt from this person.

He told me how much
he resented the judgment

religious people
had shown him in his life,

but I was amazed
by how comfortable he seemed

in situations like this.

♪

- ♪ Holy, holy

♪ God almighty

- I'm so sorry.

- This is Dylan.

- Hi, Dylan, welcome.

God bless you.
And who's your friend?

- This is Nanfu.

- Hi.
- Hi. Nanfu.

- And what are you doing?
Just taking some shots?

- I'm filming.
Yeah, him. Yeah.

- Oh, is he a--
- Our journey.

- It's a journey?

Oh, thank you for
coming today. Fantastic.

Come on in.
Well, look who's back in town.

- They don't want
to be filmed, those two.

- In Jesus's name,
we come to you, Lord.

Give us thy gifts

- I told you [indistinct].

- It's just like a cast
on us, on our mind, Lord.

Where we want to have that fix
that only you can give us.

When we ask for forgiveness

for whatever
we've done to somebody,

if we spoke and feel--

- And for whatever reason
you have come on this journey,

Lord God,
we just want to pray

your holy spirit
will capture his heart

and capture his mind
and capture Dylan

and turn him in to the man

that you have designed him
to become, Lord.

And he is seeking--

He's on a quest, Lord Jesus.

I pray that you will
just give him the answers

that he's looking for, Lord.

We pray your favor upon Dylan.

We pray that
salvation, healing,

and deliverance will come to
Dylan's body, soul, and spirit,

and to his friend, also Lord,
we just pray for her.

We pray that as they travel
together that, Lord,

you will put a hedge
of protection around them

and that, Lord, your spirit

will fall upon them
like it did

when you fell
upon Saul, oh, God.

And we just bleed your blood,
Jesus, over their lives,

over their hearts
and their minds

and their emotions, Lord,
and we say,

"Thank you, Lord,
for the opportunity

to pray and bless
them in Jesus's name."

- I typically
never make a sign,

but I figured why not.

A simple sign manifested

into encountering
this man, George.

- How do you like
the United States?

You like it?
- Yeah.

- He offered me
the $50 bonus

to tour a luxury timeshare
in North Beach in Miami.

- Guys, I need you
to come over here

for a minute
and just initial this.

- It required
a bit of paperwork

and fibbing as far as
my occupation and salary.

So what?

I could use $50
to help myself

and to help this man

make a few dollars
off of referring me.

- Hey, you got to wash
your hands, all right?

Come on, let me take you
to the bathroom.

Here's your ID.

Okay?

You've gotta finish the tour
in order to get the gift.

So in an hour,
hour and a half,

they're gonna have
snacks up there.

They're gonna tell you
about a vacation club,

and, you know,
if you like it, buy it.

If you don't--if you don't make
spur-of-the-moment decisions,

whatever it is that you do
or don't do, it's up to you.

You don't have to buy
anything for the gift, okay?

Thank you again. I'll be here
when you get done, okay?

I'll be here waiting
to pay you. Okay.

- Maybe about
a 25-minute van ride,

and you end up
at this beautiful facility.

Sure, I'll pretend to be
a hotshot wealthy young guy

covered in dirt, stinky.

- Okay.

76?

- The pool area's
generally [indistinct].

Brothers? Sisters?

Younger sister, okay.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

The pressure that
the older ones always get.

- Yeah.
- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Did you guys--

Okay, cool, cool, cool.

- I told her
I was a master carpenter.

That was my way
of explaining

my hands being
all dirty and stained.

- Right on, brother.

- Yeah?

Yes?

Oh, that's good.
- Yeah.

- Mm-hmm.

- The $50 Dylan earned
could last for a few days,

maybe beyond the few days
I had with him on the streets,

but he decided to go to
a restaurant for dinner,

and the rest of the money
he gave away.

After a few minutes,
not surprisingly

Dylan became friends
with the people

sitting at the next table.

- What's your name?
- I'm Dylan.

- Dylan?
- Yes.

- Nice to meet you. Ingrid.
- Ingrid?

- Ingrid, yeah.

- That's my grandma.
- That's your grandma?

Aww.
Bless you.

- This is my mom--

- Nice to meet you all.

- They gave Dylan $20
and their contact information.

- Yeah, keep in touch with us.
- I promise. I promise.

- Yes, and then
when we come back here--

- God forbid,
I hope not, but if--

- Yes.

- All right.
All right.

I love it.
Love it.

- Absolutely.

- You guys have
a beautiful night.

- Thank you.
You too.

Bye.

♪

- We're sorry.
Forgive us.

- I was worried that we would
be kicked out of this park.

Sure enough,
I got woken up by police.

such things.

♪

- This won't?

Before we headed north,

I went to a bathroom in
a bagel shop to clean myself.

It took me so long
in the bathroom

that the staff noticed
and questioned me.

I told them about Dylan
and that I was filming him.

Dylan, they were preparing
bagels for us on the roads.

Do you want to come in
and say thank you to them?

- I don't know why
he's in that situation,

but whatever reason,
he's there, so why not help?

- How much money
did you give him?

- Just five, five bucks.

Then, like,
a half a pack of smokes.

Then we gave him
some bagels and stuff.

That was
the boss's idea there.

You know, just some bagels
and some cream cheese.

Heard he was living
on the streets and hungry,

so, you know,
why not help someone?

- Soon after
we were back on the road,

Dylan decided
to sell the bagels.

No one wanted a bagel,

but many people
gave him money.

What did you tell him?

- I said, "Yo, you need
a bagel for a dollar?

I'm trying to hit this bus."

And he's like,
"Hold on. Hold on,"

and he went inside
and bought some beer

and came back with a dollar,

but he didn't ask for a bagel.

- I was annoyed
that Dylan wanted

to get rid of the bagels.

I felt that he was ungrateful

for the kindness
people showed him.

I felt so disgusted that
I lost interest in filming

and gave him the camera.

When I first met Dylan,

he seemed like a symbol
for the free America

I had always heard about.

But the longer I spent

observing how
he used his freedom,

my feelings changed.

- Spare a dollar?

- I don't eat that much food.

I don't want to carry
that around for so long.

I don't want to have to take
three [bleep] a day.

I'm not going to get any money
from anybody for food

if I'm carrying a big bag
of bagels around.

My objective
is drinking right now,

and now I have to beg again,
which I never beg.

I have to beg today
to get some beer.

So I can think straight enough
to know what's bothering me.

- But you already
knew the answer.

You already knew it, right?

- I need to drink
and think about it.

It doesn't involve you,

but I just still need
to think about it.

- When he threw away
the bagels,

I couldn't stand it.

We had an argument.

I criticized him
for taking advantage

of people's kindness.

But then I thought to myself,

"Was I the one who was taking
advantage of him by filming?"

Shortly after this,
my trip with Dylan ended.

Dylan stayed on the streets,

and I went back
to my life in New York.

[car horn blares]

[traffic noises, whistles blow]

Everything looked
different after the trip.

My few weeks
on the streets showed me

that my everyday worries from
before all seemed pointless.

I knew that whatever happened,
I could survive.

I soon became busy
making a film

about Chinese human rights.

The survival skills I learned
on the streets with Dylan

became useful as I was
on the run across China

chased by the police.

I often found myself
comparing my experience

filming in both countries.

I felt safer sleeping
on the streets

than I did traveling in China
on buses and trains.

Two years quickly went by.

I often wondered
what would happen to Dylan

and if I would see him again.

♪

- I started doing
these around 2013.

What I would do is in
between calls or, you know,

when I was on call and driving
around in my work truck,

I would just stick the GoPro
to one of the windows

and just say
what was on my mind.

It is a beautiful day.

You've got to enjoy
those every chance you get.

I am headed off
to do some scouting

on a target house...

a little bit.

And then I got to pick up
some new handcuffs

because mine...

got stuck on
the last guy I arrested,

and that's really upsetting
because I've had that pair

of handcuffs for 24 years,

my entire career.

♪

- Two years after
I first met Dylan,

I traveled to Utah
for the first time

for the Chinese human rights
film I was working on.

I remembered that
Dylan was from Utah,

and I was curious to see

if I could learn more
about where he came from.

- I have lots of disks

where I've recorded
my thoughts,

just like a video journal,

and there's a lot
of things that are--

are special to me,

you know, that I'm glad
I have documented.

We got an [indistinct]
search warrant,

Park City, Utah.

- Police!
Search warrant!

- Get on the floor!
- Police! Search warrant!

Police! Search warrant!

- I've been a detective
since 2011.

I investigate sex crimes.

I'm also assigned to
investigate Internet crimes

against children.

We'll execute
a search warrant.

High 90% of the time,

we find evidence
of child pornography.

Well, the first several times

I had to review material,
because I can't say,

"Well...I think
this is child porn."

I have to review it
and make sure what it is,

and I have to be able
to describe

a number of images in videos.

So the first time I did
have to do those reviews,

I got some vicarious trauma,
and I don't cry hardly ever.

I sat down at my desk one day

and just kind of
started to cry.

This was a way to get
those things off my chest

even though I'm only
talking to myself.

I couldn't talk to
other people about it.

Every once in a while
I'd wake up really early,

and I just couldn't
go back to bed,

so I decided
just to go to work.

I started the camera
from my driveway,

and it was super dark,
so you can't see anything,

but you could hear
what I was talking about.

I have three kids.

My youngest is 15.

He gets straight
A's in school, very smart.

My daughter is...

Working on graduating
from college.

She's so kindhearted
and good.

And my oldest boy,
he's 23.

He's been a transient
all around the country.

♪

No parent wants their child
to be homeless on the street.

I think when you're a parent,

you want your children
to be kind of like you.

He looks just like I did
when I was his age or younger.

We have a lot of
similarities in our voice

and the way that we really
care about people.

All three
of my children grew up

with the same expectations
and the same knowledge,

and they all turned out
so very differently.

♪

- I'm kind of
a religious person.

Well, I'm actually a very
religious person, but--

♪

I wouldn't dream
of breaking the rules,

but Dylan is all out there
happily breaking all the rules

that he can get away
with, you know?

I feel like he has
this sense of freedom

with breaking rules,
you know?

I don't think he likes
to be bound by anything,

or I don't think he likes
to be told what to do.

The way I see homeless people

is people who made
bad decisions,

you know, and I'm sure
if they could go back,

they'd change
those bad decisions.

- The way Ashton feels
was 100% totally his choice.

He can do whatever he wants.

Dylan, the same way.

He has the freedom to choose.

- I learned that Dylan
has a very loving family.

I wondered what made him
choose to live on the streets.

- Part of it
was he hated Utah.

He hated the local religion,

and so he had
made some friends,

and they had different
philosophies.

There was drug use
in those circles.

His drug habit got
more and more intense,

and he'd had some
psychological problems

that we tried to deal with.

He gets his medications.

Then he'll go out
and sell it for $300,

so there was
a lot of frustrations.

You know,
what can we do to help?

When you have a child
you want to help,

you've got to simplify
the rules, you know,

and I had simple rules.

Don't bring drugs
into my house,

and I made him come up
with the consequence.

"All right, so if you
violate these rules,

what's the consequences?"

He came up with it.
He said, "I'm out."

And so, you know,
there was a time

when I found some things
in his room here.

I just--

And I pointed it
out to him,

and I says, "Well,
what's gonna happen now?"

He says, "Dad, I know.
I got to go."

He told me, "Just drop me
off in the mountains."

We're driving up on 89.

"Just drop me off
in the mountains."

I said, "I can't drop you
off in the mountains."

I said, "It's getting cold,
and you'll die of exposure,"

so I bought him

a bus ticket to San Diego,

and I looked up every
social service program

that could help him that was
in the San Diego area.

I printed those up with maps.

I had his whole itinerary
of being homeless planned.

"Here's where
the bus station is.

"Here's where you can
get some food.

Here's where someone
can help you to get a job."

He was excited to go in a way,

and I'm frightened.

I'm terrified at this point.

So...

at the end of the day,

I took him down
to the Greyhound station,

and I had that
$400 in my pocket,

and I thought to myself,

"If I just give him $400 here
and we part ways,

he'll be in downtown
Salt Lake buying drugs."

So I waited until he was
in line for the Greyhound bus.

Then I gave him $400.

And I said,
"Don't lose it."

"Don't lose
any of this stuff.

"I want you to survive,
and I trust--

I trust you.
I trust that you can survive."

And I watched
the bus go away,

and I call that
one of the three

saddest days of my life.

One of them being
when Brenton died.

Our first son
passed away at birth,

and that was tough.

I remember going out
to the cemetery

and just crying

and bathed
his headstone in my tears.

I couldn't believe
all the bad things

that have happened
to me in my life.

One of them being
when the woman

I was married to
for 18 years

said she didn't want to be
married to me anymore.

I think the divorce
was really hard for Dylan.

♪

- I think it might have
had effects on Dylan,

but his behavior
had more effects on us.

For me, I kind
of had a breakdown

'cause I didn't know
what to do with him.

John didn't know
what to do with him,

and I think it strained
our relationship.

- Dylan's mother agreed
to one interview with me,

but she didn't want
to participate further

in the film because
reliving these memories

was very painful for her.

- There's a lot of moms
that have homeless children

that are addicts,
and you never sleep at night.

You always worry about them.

As any mom with an addicted
child will tell you,

that every time
the phone rings,

you wonder if that's the call.

Every time there's a number
that you don't recognize,

you--your heart drops

because you know that some day
there's a real possibility

that you're gonna
get that call,

and that's...

something that I worry
about all the time.

- She was always convinced
that he was murdered somewhere,

and I would say to myself,

"No, no, if something that bad
happened, somebody would--"

I know how
law enforcement works.

They would've figured out
who he was,

and I would have got
a phone call.

So no news is good news,
but it was a long time,

and I was just terrified,
worrying like,

"Oh, my gosh,
what did I do?"

You know, I just like,

"Is he okay?
What's wrong?"

Until the first time
he called me.

Oh, man, I was so glad
to hear his voice,

and he said,
"Guess where I'm at."

He said he was
on somebody's boat,

and they'd hired him to help
them work on the guy's boat

and was paying him money,

and I thought,
"Oh, my gosh, hallelujah."

Okay, so now he's
in a place that he likes,

and he has something
positive, you know,

and that's
the first time I learned

"This is where Dylan
just started being Dylan."

♪

A few weeks later he calls me.
"Guess where I'm at."

"Where?"

"At a mansion in Malibu

drinking a glass of wine
looking at the ocean."

And he sends me
a text picture of him--

of a glass of wine,
and there's the ocean.

He's up on the hill
in Malibu.

"Oh, my gosh. Hallelujah.
What the heck."

San Diego,
Panama City, Florida,

New York,
and all kinds of places.

Heck, he got on a sailboat

and was 80 miles off
the shore in blue water.

I'm thinking, this kid is
living kind of a Forrest Gump,

Walter Mitty kind of existence,

and--and, uh...

I started to talk
to my friends about it.

I'm proud of Dylan
in so many respects,

you know, and so interested,

but on the other side,

what's he gonna do
when he gets old?

I think to myself,
"What are you doing, kid?"

I'm confused,
and I don't understand,

and I hope he's happy.

I hope he is always up
for another adventure,

but I hope
he's a healthy guy.

I hope he can find
the balance there

'cause I don't want him
to die before I do.

- Several months after
my first trip to Utah,

John was getting remarried,

and he invited me
to the wedding,

especially since
Dylan would be there.

It would be the first time any
of us had seen Dylan in years.

♪

♪

- First, I would like
to welcome everybody

for coming out today.

I could go on all day

talking about
how wonderful my family is

and just love them,
and my job makes me grateful

even more
for my family every day,

but I'm gonna focus
a little bit of attention

on my children.

Dylan here.
Raise your hand, Dylan.

He's my oldest son.

Dylan is super intelligent.

He is, like, one of
the most awesome adventurers

I've ever known,
very resourceful,

and one thing about Dylan

is he knows how to write

and express himself.

Like, I read some of the things
that this kid wrote,

and I just want him
to put it in a book.

Kayla, she is the sweetest,

most kindest person
in the world totally.

I love you very much.

Well, without further ado,
I'll have Ashton play a song,

and in the middle of the song

is when we'll introduce
my beautiful bride to you guys.

- By virtue of the legal
authority invested in me

as elder of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints,

I pronounce you,
John Corbin Olsen

and Wende Sue Mabey,

husband and wife,
legally and lawfully wedded

for the period
of your mortal lives.

May God bless you
in this union with joy,

and your posterity in a long
life of happiness together,

and may he enable you to keep
sacred covenants you've made.

Mr. and Mrs. Olsen.

- Oh, my God.

- Awww!

- The youngest, five.
That's fine too.

You're just five.
- Hello.

- I'm Grandma.
- Yeah.

- I hear all about you,
how amazing you are.

- Well, I don't think
I'm that amazing.

People are nice, though,
to say that.

- I hear you--
How long will you be here?

- I'll probably be here
for a few months.

- That's good.
- Yeah, I'll be hanging around.

It's good to be
around the family.

I've been away
for far too long,

and so being around
the family is--

it feels really nice.

- That's good. That's good.

That's good
you're going to stay.

- Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I'm excited to stay.

all: ♪ There was
this boy whose ♪

♪ Parents made him

♪ Come directly home
right after school ♪

♪ And when

♪ They went
to their church ♪

♪ They shook

♪ And lurched all over
the church floor ♪

♪

♪ He couldn't
quite explain it ♪

- While Dylan was in Utah,

he took me to some
of his memorable places.

- Ever since I was a kid,

I've always been so attracted

to the--to the aesthetic life,

the guy who lives out of
a backpack and just travels.

This is a little place
we used to hang out.

I ran away from home one time
and stayed here for--

I don't know--
a good couple of days.

Utah, this is a place
of geographical wonder.

The high elevation mountain
lakes, the deserts,

the red rock,

the mountains,
the marshlands,

the lakes, everywhere,
this is where I grew up.

This is where
I got to explore

and learn
how to be a woodsman

and learn
how to swim and fish

and explore
exploring itself.

Sadly this place
is very conservative

and very judgmental,

predominantly
populated by people

who want to worship
their lord and savior, Jesus.

Somebody like me
with tattoos, an open mind,

and--you know,
I get shunned out.

You can't get a job.
You're judged.

You're scrutinized
thoroughly.

You smoke cigarettes,
heaven forbid.

You drink a beer,
heaven forbid.

I love to come here
to visit,

but trying to become
part of the inner

social structure
of this state,

it's a bit more of a challenge
than other places.

A man from the past
living in the present

so his presence
is living in the future.

He only sought the things
that the whole world forgot.

I am he.
He is me.

If you only
knew he is another you.

- That night, Dylan asked me
to show his family

the footage I filmed
on the streets in Florida.

Dylan was excited to see it.

- Oh, I remember this dude.
This cat was weird.

I forgot about him.

That was the bagel store
right there.

I love this man.
Good dude.

- But gradually I noticed that
not everyone was comfortable

seeing Dylan
as a homeless person.

- Oh, .

Oh, he's so awesome.

Oh. [bleep] ass [bleep].

Son of a bitch.

- After the screening,

Ashton told Dylan
not to curse in front of him,

which made Dylan very upset.

♪

- You're a pain in the ass.
You realize that?

♪

I just wish that he could see

my side of the world
a little bit better.

If one day he wakes up
and he's like,

"Wow. the Mormon religion
is bull

and my entire [bleep]
life philosophy is gone,"

just like what happened to me,

if one day he realizes
that's gone,

what the [bleep] would he do?

♪

- Instead of sleeping
in his parents' house,

Dylan went to do drugs with
his friends on the mountain.

♪

Dylan left Utah
soon after the wedding.

It was then I remembered
something that John told me

the first time I met him.

- He'd had some
psychological problems

that we tried to deal with.

He gets his medications,
and then he'll go out

and sell it for $300.

- I ignored what
he told me back then.

I dismissed it
as an overreaction

to Dylan's nonconformity,

but I realized my own bias
kept me from hearing

what John tried to tell me.

- Part of his mental issues
was severe paranoia.

He starts to tell me that
there's people after him,

and he starts naming names,

and I know these--I knew
one of the people was here

and couldn't possibly have
even known where he was,

so I tried to tell him,
convince him,

that he was just
having hallucinations.

- How did you know
it wasn't from the drug use?

- Because I've known
a lot of drug addicts

in the course of my career,

and people who were blitzed
on you name it,

and that's not a typical
reaction to the drugs.

I know that the drugs
compounded the issue.

- I wonder when Dylan first
had that type of experience

and whether he had told you.

- It really didn't come
on strong until he was 17,

18 years old.

He's always been
open and honest with me

about bad things
going on in his life.

But I can't guarantee that
he wasn't hiding something

that was bothering him,

or that he would even know
that this isn't real,

and this isn't the way it is.

I mean, he could've been
experiencing things to this day

that he thinks were real
that didn't actually happen.

♪

- Every time I close my eyes,

I'm mesmerized
by some kind of dream.

Places I've never seen before

but I feel like
I've seen before.

The first time that
I heard them so vividly,

I just thought
I was possessed.

I'd look at somebody,

and I swear I could hear
what they were thinking,

and then I'd look
at somebody else,

and I would hear
what they were thinking.

And I was just afraid.

I don't even remember
what happened after that.

I don't even know
how I got--

Yeah, I really can't even
remember what happened.

I went blank
for, like, a week.

I could put it on the inside
so it would be hidden.

- Which inside?
- See how it's got this--

- Where. Oh, cool.
- All right.

Go in the shade somewhere?
- Mm-hmm.

Here's the thing
that I kept wondering

and I couldn't understand,

because we spent almost
a month together,

and I did not notice anything,

whether you
behaved differently,

whether you were nervous
or panicked or anything.

Was it just a bad time period,
just, like, nothing happened?

You didn't hear voices?
You didn't see illusions?

- No, I just
didn't let it show.

- Really?
- Yeah. I just hide a lot of it.

- How could you hide
if that's so strong?

- Alcohol.
- Really?

- Alcohol helps.
When I--I mean, for instance,

there was that one time

we were eating the dinner
in South Beach.

We were sitting next
to that family,

and some guy gave me
a weird look,

some, like,
gang-banger-looking guy.

He looked at me and
he was like, "What's up?"

And it just--immediately
I got this panic going on.

I remember the first thing
I did is I went

and bought some alcohol,

and we got on that bus,
I was drinking the vodka,

and I was all happy
on the bus after that.

- I had been with Dylan

that whole night
filming everything,

but I missed this,

this entire narrative
that was running in his head.

I went back to look
at my footage

and finally noticed how much
Dylan had been drinking.

It was constant.

♪

Are you drunk?

He told me that the voices
had always been there.

- It's a sensation that I'm
gonna deal with my whole life,

and I'm just--I'm basically
in the--I don't know--

kindergarten stage

of trying to understand
this phenomenon

going on in my psyche
and my spirituality.

- I'm trying to understand.

- It's--It's--
Yeah, you can't--

It's something really
difficult to explain,

and that's why there's such
little compassion towards it.

- I asked Dylan
if he remembered

any of the voices he heard.

He said he had
written them down.

- And these are true things

that I've actually heard
in the past.

"Look at him. He's so foolish.
Watch how he's doing it.

"Yep, he hears us.
That idiot.

"You're always gonna be
someone's bitch, Dylan.

"This is Project Craft
unit 27-A.

"Your grandpa's
dying right now.

"Listen to him suffering
in the hospital.

"And the old man
moaning sound and groaning.

He has lasted
longer than most..."

"Remember San Diego?
That was crazy.

That was so [bleep]."

"He's terrified
of everything.

Yeah, PTSD."

- When I was a child in China,
people in my village

used to say that mental
illness was contagious.

When I grew up,
the media said

that people who protested

against the government
had mental illness,

and I had seen how dissidents

were locked
in mental hospitals.

When John first told me
that Dylan was mentally ill,

I was in denial.

But now, hearing Dylan
describing his mental trauma,

I started to question
my own perception of reality.

How do you know what things
in your life are real

and are not real?

- I can just feel it.

I have physical
sensations in my body,

and I've had
enough experiences

where I know it's not real

and thought it was.

I know when it's not real now.

I can feel it.

♪

♪

- Have you caught anything?

- No.

- I brought you some fish.

- Are you serious?

Aw.

- My relationship
with Dylan is, like,

boyfriend-girlfriend,
I would say.

He finds so much beauty
on the street.

It's so special that I get
to see through his eyes

directly how it is.

So we love
each other a lot,

but we live a lifestyle
that constantly changes,

or we like when it changes,
and we love loving people.

After experiencing this,

I feel like
I won't be able to,

like, live a quote-unquote,
like, normal life ever again.

I don't see Dylan
as mentally ill.

We think very imaginatively.

I think that's why
we get along so well.

Maybe he's mentally ill

because he doesn't want to
be part of the status quo,

but that's not mentally ill.

It's just a different opinion.

♪

- Over the next few days,

I met some of
Dylan's homeless friends.

- What's going on, bro?
How you doing, my man?

- Many of them shared
Dylan's experience.

How long have you been living
this kind of lifestyle?

- On and off
for a lot of years.

I have OCD.

It makes it difficult to--
I mean, I can do education,

but as far as balancing
the things of the workforce,

the life place, it's--

I'm pretty much incapable
of doing that,

so this is
a lifestyle I can do.

- I had some experiences
with voices.

I had little tricksters.

They would
either laugh at me,

tell me good things,
bad things,

and then there was tricksters,
and you'd hear the giggling,

and like, I'd be,
like, taking a shower.

"Shut off the water
and save--you know,

and save water."
You know, I'm like, "Okay."

- And then they're like,
"Look at how stupid she is.

She just
turned off the water."

- I know. Right!

It goes on and on
and on and on.

- Yeah.
- And finally you put yourself

in a corner and, like,
cover your head start crying,

balling your eyes out like,

"What did I do
wrong this time?"

My confidence, you know,
like, went to crap.

- If you tell any doctor
that you hear things

and see things
that other people can't,

then that's schizo effective.

That's just what
they're gonna say,

so some people are
very afraid of that word.

I don't even like to use
that word "schizophrenia"

just for that reason.

I'm sensitive to other
energies and forces

in this world that are real.

I'm not mentally ill.

I'm really just
experiencing stuff

that's in the ether
that most people can't see.

- It was difficult for me to
imagine their states of mind.

I wanted to understand
Dylan's mind better,

so I asked him
if he could visualize

some of his
experiences for me.

Dylan came up with the idea

to recreate moments of
mental trauma from his past.

He invited
his homeless friends

to create the reenactments.

- Yeah.
- Yesterday and today, man--

So if everyone
can just find a random book,

take a book,
and just use your intuition.

Somebody will set
their chair close to me,

and they'll just start
reading aloud

just, you know, quietly,

and I get confused
and distracted,

and then it will just go
around in a circle like that.

- I got one question though.
- Yeah?

- What is the name
of the movie?

- "I'm Another You."

- "I'm Another You?"
- Yeah.

- That describes
schizophrenia pretty well.

- Yeah, well,
I mean, you know,

I'm grateful that all of you
are here for this

because, you know,
I hate to use the word

"schizophrenic" or "bipolar"
or anything like that

because we're really
just empathic sensitive people

that don't fit in
to this whole machine.

We're really--
we're really emotional,

and we see things
other people can't see,

and it's important,
so I'm glad you guys are here.

- Right on, brother.

- The homeless are close to
the streets, to the pavement,

the curbs,
and the gutters,

concrete, the litter,
the sewer, the sewer lids,

the fire hydrants
and wastebaskets

and the bus stops
and the storefronts.

They move slowly over
familiar terrain day after day,

stopping to talk to each other
because time means little.

- Ready.

- Stopping to watch a stalled
car under hats and caps.

- A new drug dealer
on the corner.

A strange face on the curb...

- And like sentries
they observe...

- Sexual images--
- They sit on their sidewalks--

- Hidden under hats and caps.

- One of our clients said...

- Like sentries they observe--
- Every move--

- Sexual images--
- Every move--

- Hear the sounds
of the streets--

- They absorbed the odors
of diesel--

- They know it--
- Too much of this life--

- Guns fired--
- Look at that.

They had him hogtied,
raped him,

and then put a knife
to his chest.

- Look at him.
He's so foolish.

- I'm openly expressing
the most sensitive and--

things about me.

If some people understood me,
which I know they would,

I would appreciate that,
but this isn't about me.

Most people with these kind
of--with a mind like mine,

they don't have
skills to explain

or illustrate
what's going on actually.

You asked me if I was
homeless by choice,

and I would've said "yes"

initially but--

because I did make
the choice to be homeless,

but thinking about it
on a deeper level,

it is definitely
not a choice.

How am I supposed
to keep a job

when I have
these social paranoias

and these hallucinations?

How can I call in sick
maybe once or twice a week?

It's--it's really
not feasible.

By their standards,
I'm mentally disabled.

♪

- I came to Florida
to find out

whether Dylan
was mentally ill

and what his reality was.

But after understanding
the complexities

of his mental health,
addiction, and homelessness,

the question had become
less important.

How do you spell your name?

- D-Y-L-A-N.

- Dylan?
- Dylan.

- I had seen how the mind
can build prisons for itself.

I had seen through
people's treatment of Dylan

how they were limited
by their perception.

- You see, you and I, like,
we don't differ all that much.

- Yeah.

- I'm just fascinated,
so what made you--

like, did someone else do this
that you decided to do it or--

- I like him, you know?

And like,
he's a funny cat, man.

You know, he's young.
He's finding himself.

- I see Dylan's face

in every homeless
person that I see.

♪

- I came to the U.S.
in 2011.

I followed Dylan
hoping to find something

I've been searching
for all my life.

Along the way I've learned

what I've been searching for

exists only in the mind.

♪

- What else is there besides
this endless kisses

from Mrs. Bliss herself,

escaping the clasp of
the second hand's ticking task

kicking back the flask
to bask with no mask.

Wherever he goes,
he leaves an echo to show.

From the pitter-patter
of his feet

to the magic incantation
he speaks,

a man from the past
living in the present

so his presence
is living in the future,

yesterday, and tomorrow.

Last week was
seven years long.

The only thought in his mind
was the singing bird's song.

He only sought the things
that the whole world forgot.

I am he. He is me.

If you only knew
he is another you.

♪

♪ ♪