There are no shortage of solid documentaries playing at this year’s South By Southwest TV and Film from all corners of the world and even ones set right here in Austin! Watch over the following week for more reactions, but I wanted to kick off the documentaries from my end with one from my favourite filmmakers working today for SECRET MALL APARTMENT, which had raves after its premiere screening the other night at the Alamo South Lamar.
About: In 2003, eight Rhode Islanders created a secret apartment inside the Providence Place Mall and lived in it for four years, filming everything along the way. They snuck in furniture, tapped into the mall’s electricity, and even constructed a wall, smuggling in over 2 tons of cinderblock. Far more than just a wild prank, the secret apartment became a deeply meaningful place for its inhabitants – a personal expression of defiance against local gentrification, a clubhouse to coordinate artistic charity, and finally, a 750 square foot “F you” to The Man. From Jeremy Workman, whose “Lily Topples The World” won the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW 2021 and from Executive Producer Jesse Eisenberg.
Jason’s Reaction: In the current day, the idea of someone squatting/living in a business might be a form of expression or something even a bit more understood. Here, it was all back in 2003 and a group of young adults figured out a way to live rent-free in a small unused space in a gigantic mall in Providence, Rhode Island. Not only is SECRET MALL APARTMENT about these group of ballsy people, the movie takes it a step further and explores the history of Providence, how the mall affected the lower income part of the city around it, and of course what happens when these people are caught. The movie comes from filmmaker Jeremy Workman, who is no stranger to Austin and SxSW. I met him back in 2018 when THE WORLD BEFORE YOUR FEET, a documentary about a man who walked every street in New York City, inspired me to get out in my neck of the woods in Western Canada for multi hour walks. Then in LILY TOPPLES THE WORLD a few years later, he takes a great look at the passion behind someone who builds big projects from dominoes, then topples it all over. Workman has such a connection to his subjects, and here in SECRET MALL APARTMENT he gets in close with this bizarre social experiment and keeps you interested. It truly shows that Workman is one of the best documentary talents working today, and his latest project is no exception.
This movie and many more like it are playing at this year’s South By Southwest. For more information on this movie and others, point your browser to www.sxsw.com!