Join the Rotary Club of Ottawa-Stittsville for their International Film Series In collaboration with the Film Circuit of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Please contact Charles Mossman by email at (charcz@yahoo.com) for the 4:00pm passes, or Sandra Burt by email at (sburt@uwaterloo.ca) for the 7:00pm passes.
Secret Mall Apartment, US, English, 90 minutes.
This documentary takes place in Providence Rhode Island, and explores urban gentrification, homelessness, and artistic possibilities. The story begins in 2002 when Fort Thunder, an old mill building that provided low-cost rental housing, was demolished in order to make way for a super-sized shopping mall. Michael Townsend, a member of the Trummerkind Collective, tape artist and art teacher, was one of the tenants of Fort Thunder, and is the central figure in this story of urban protest. Together with seven other other local artists, Michael led the project of building a secret apartment within the new Providence Place Mall, in a show of defiance against gentrification and an exploration of public/private art. The secret clubhouse was not discovered by the mall security guards for nearly four years. This documentary was produced primarily with low-resolution video footage filmed by the group of eight. You will want to learn what happened to the eight, and in particular to Michael, after the secret apartment was discovered!