Did you ever wish you could live at the mall? In 2003, that’s just what Michael Townsend and several of his friends did, creating one of the most original guerilla art projects of the 21st century, building and furnishing a hidden 750 sq. foot apartment — complete with couch, cabinet, even a TV and PlayStation — inside the Providence Mall in Rhode Island. It remained undetected for four years. As a small cohort of artists who had been displaced due to the mall’s development, the initial act of living in the mall evolved from a practical joke to a personal act of reclaiming space from real estate moguls and developers.
Stitched together from camcorder footage from twenty years ago alongside interviews with the original participants -– many of whom are only revealing themselves now for the first time -– Secret Mall Apartment strikes a balancing act between the absurdity of its story and surprisingly profound questions about gentrification, the nature of social art, and what truly makes a home.
Community Partner
Michael Townsend
USA
2024
English
Coarse language
Open to youth at International Village
At Fifth Avenue and The Rio
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Jesse Eisenberg, Allen Altman, Cathie Altman, Matthew Spain,Ivan Williams, Peter Haberman, Lance Hoffman, Marnie Black, Scott Black, Amy Zelnick, Brad Zelnick
Producer
Jeremy Workman
Cinematography
Michael Lisnet, Jeremy Workman, Dan Kennedy
Editor
Paul Murphy, Jeremy Workman
Production Design
Suja Ono
Original Music
Olivier Manchon, Clare Manchon
Art Director
Grace Bilbao, Susan Choi
Jeremy Workman
Jeremy Workman is the director of the documentaries Lily Topples the World (Discovery, 2021), Deciding Vote (The New Yorker, 2023), The World Before Your Feet (Greenwich Entertainment / Kino Lorber, 2018), Magical Universe (IFC Films, 2013), among others. Jeremy’s documentaries have played at prestigious film festivals and been released in theaters across the globe.
Filmography: Who Is Henry Jaglom? (1995); Magical Universe (2013); The World Before Your Feet (2018); Lily Topples the World (2021)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Love That Remains
Anna and Magnús have separated, leaving her to raise their three children as he spends long stretches at sea, working as a fisherman. As the seasons pass, their emotions ebb and flow. A richly conceived story with unexpected delight and humour.
Song Sung Blue
Lightning and Thunder (Hugh Jackman and Oscar nominee Kate Hudson), are Milwaukee husband and wife Neil Diamond tribute act who experience soaring success and devastating heartbreak in their musical journey together. Based on a true story.
Montreal, ma belle
In this Valentine to discovering love later in life, the ever-elegant Joan Chen plays Feng Xia, a 53-year-old Chinese immigrant and mother in Montreal whose world is turned upside down when she meets and falls in love with a young Quebecoise.
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, and Special Jury Prize Winner, Sundance, 2025, this exposé shot by a Russian primary teacher shows how the Putin propaganda machine works to militarize children.
Sirât
A desperate father (Sergi Lopez) searchers for his missing daughter through the spiritual wasteland of the Moroccan desert. An unforgettable sensory powerhouse, Sîrat will have you riveted and rattled for hours after the end credits have rolled.
Sun Ra: Do the Impossible
Whether he was a man, a musician, or an emissary from Saturn (as he claimed), Sun Ra was one of the unique visionaries of the 20th century. Christine Turner’s documentary explores the legacy of this iconoclastic who turned his life into a work of art.