**Filmmaker and Subject in attendance for post-screening Q&A with film critic Tom Sika (President San Francisco Film Critics Circle)

Chipping away at the myth of San Francisco as a promised land for all gays, AMERICAN VAGABOND is a moving love story of two young misfits, a homeless gay couple, and their attempts to stay together against overwhelming odds.  What can you do if you’re 18, gay, and living with your parents in a conservative part of the United States?  You head to San Francisco, “the gayest city in the world,” in search for a sense of belonging. But all hope of a warm gay welcome and a sense of belonging soon evaporates as housing becomes a financial impossibility and social acceptance within the older, wealthier gay community beyond their reach.

San Francisco isn’t particularly hospitable for penniless newcomers, and the boys end up on the streets in the shadow of the city – stranded in a world of homeless people and the community of other kicked-out queer youth.

Directed by Susanna Helke, 85min., 2013, Finland