Screening times:
Thursday, June 5, 6:30 PM
Saturday, June 7, 6:00 PM
Jeremy Workman | USA | 2024 | 91m
with Michael Townsend, Colin Bliss, and Adriana Valdez-Young
In 2003, eight artists created a secret apartment inside the recently built Providence Place Mall in Rhode Island and lived there for four years, filming the project and renovations along the way. They snuck in furniture, tapped into the mall’s electricity, and even constructed a wall, smuggling in more than two tons of cinder block to help make it homey.
Far more than just a wild prank, the secret apartment became a deeply meaningful place for its inhabitants. It was a personal expression of defiance against local gentrification, a boundary-pushing work of public/private art, a clubhouse in which large-scale charitable art projects were planned, and, finally, a 750 square-foot "F-You" to The Man.
Featuring never-before-seen footage of the space and revealing the identities of all the participants for the first time, Secret Mall Apartment is more than just a bonkers true story. Director Jeremy Workman, whose documentary Lily Topples The World won the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW 2021, delivers a poignant exploration of a group of artists who did important, memorable work, and discovered their artistic voice in the most commercial and improbable place.
"Thanks to its thoughtful protagonists and filmmaker Jeremy Workman, what starts out as a quirky human interest story becomes a profoundly humane portrait of creativity and community." - Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
"Secret Mall Apartment makes a compelling case that the project reverberates through the lives of the artists, and maybe even the city, to this day." - Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times
"This is a delightful, thought-provoking movie that’s about a lot of things at the same time. It’ll make you see the world with fresh eyes, and probably wonder why there isn’t more art in it." - Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com
Winner: Best Documentary - Sidewalk Film Festival, 2024
Winner: Best Feature - deadCenter Film Festival, 2024
Winner: Audience Award - Calgary International Film Festival, 2024
Winner: Best Documentary Feature - Independent Film Festival of Boston
Tickets $12 ($11.40 cash at the door if available). Prices include HST and online booking fees where applicable.
