"When I was a kid, and you asked me, 'what do you want to be when you grow up?', I didn't say a heroin addict…I want to have a family someday...and a house of my own."
– Michael, homeless in Vancouver

If you could get one person off the street, would you? Could you? Devil Plays Hardball is a radical interventionist documentary by Paperny Films that seeks to answer this question. Four well-established Vancouver residents have 10-months to mentor homeless individuals from various Vancouver neighborhoods who have the desire – but not necessarily the means – to re-enter mainstream society. What ensues is a complicated journey that provides an up-close and intimate look at the people most of us choose to ignore – Canada's homeless.

"We all feel helpless in the face of this growing crisis," says Nijole Kuzmickas, director and writer, Devil Plays Hardball. "This was an experiment to see if we as individuals could do something to change things."

"This project is unique because unlike some interventionist documentaries and make-over reality shows, it is not trying to create a sensationalist finale, but sincerely question whether the mentor approach can affect social change," says Catherine Olsen, senior programmer of documentaries for CBC Newsworld.

Shot in HD, Devil Plays Hardball endeavors to make positive changes in the homeless population, one step – and one person – at a time. The filmmakers, who placed ads on Craigslist and on shelter and hostel notice boards in Vancouver, were surprised by the overwhelming number of potential mentors and homeless people who applied.

In the case of Michael, a homeless man who sleeps in a warehouse in tony Yaletown, his involvement begins with the chance to 'audition' potential mentors, all part of a process captured on camera. In the other cases, filmmaker Nijole Kuzmickas matches pairs based on their personalities and needs. She also recruits Vancouver's homeless advocate Judy Graves to mentor the mentors, offering the volunteers counsel based on her 30 years of experience.

For ten months, the camera intimately follows each pair as they explore what it takes to get the homeless participants off the street. The results– both heartwarming and heartbreaking – raise important and thought provoking issues around the ultimate question: can one person really make a difference?

The documentary subjects and mentors are as follows:

• 17-year-old Amanda and 24-year-old Adrian are two high school dropouts lost in the big city. Far from home and family, the couple is matched up with mentor Susan, a mother of four grown children and a well-connected professional fundraiser who thinks she knows what these 'kids' need.
• Michael, who we meet 'auditioning' potential mentors, has been addicted to heroin for 20 years. He chooses Brent, an idealistic, 34-year-old lawyer with a large Vancouver firm, as his mentor. Michael feels that Brent can give him the 'tough love' he needs to stay on track.
• Danse is a struggling aboriginal artist who has been on-and-off the streets for years. A friendly fixture on Commercial Drive in Vancouver's East End, he is paired with Mike, an IT consultant and community activist who lives in the same neighbourhood.
• Erika – a former bank teller who has been on the streets for eight years – lives in a downtown bus shelter and only communicates through writing. Filmmaker Nijole Kuzmickas drives past her daily on her way to work. One rainy night, Nijole lends Erika a hand and soon becomes her mentor.

Devil Plays Hardball is directed by Nijole Kujmickas, and produced by Audrey Mehler of Paperny Films in association with CBC Newsworld.