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Secret Mall Apartment

“So much of what the mall sells us is this performance of a consumer lifestyle. The mall apartment was this opportunity to have this set where we could play out the unrealistic and unattainable fantasies of the mall… You love beautifying things? Well, so do we.” — Adriana Valdez Young

When the Providence Place Mall debuted in 1999, it was a destination for lovers of mall culture. It faced the highway and was easily accessible via a dedicated exit on 95. The mall’s purpose was not to serve its own community. In fact there were no entrances to the mall facing downtown. Instead, the mall was positioned in a way that attracted customers who could arrive, park, shop and eat and leave without seeing any other part of the city. And in turn the city would benefit from the increased business.

In the early 2000s my mom and I would venture out to Providence just to visit the mall. In the time we were there wee wouldn’t see a single other part of the city. That is except for a small stretch along the Woonasquatucket River where we drove past seemingly abandoned factories to get to the mall’s parking garage. The contrast between the city’s crumbling architecture and the shiny new mall always made a bit melancholy. Little did I know that at the time in that area was a thriving artist community protesting the capitalist monstrosity with hidden museums and art installations. And one of those installations would make its way into the mall.

Directed by Jeremy Workman, Secret Mall Apartment chronicles a time in Providence, Rhode Island history when a group of eight artists lived in a makeshift apartment in the mall. The intent wasn’t to get free housing. Rather, the secret apartment was both art installation and protest. The artists observed the unique architecture of the mall, found a void in the space that was inhabitable and mastered the art of going undetected as they built and lived in a unique space all their own. Smuggling in items for the apartment, residing and avoiding getting caught by security was all part of their performance. The secret apartment was also a space for these artists to discuss their plans for public art works and using their art to honor their community as well as victims of terrorist attacks.

“I do really believe that art and aesthetic experiences are good in and of themselves. That they’re not means to anything but that they make life better.” — James Mercer

This fascinating documentary includes archival footage of the experiment, interviews with the artists involved and a history of the mall and the local art scene. The film captures a unique time in the city’s history but more importantly  contemplates the purpose of art and the importance of human connection.

Secret Mall Apartment is distributed by Music Box Films and is available on DVD, Blu-ray and Video On Demand.

Posted Documentaries

Grizzly Man (2005)

“Treadwell is gone. The argument of how wrong or how right he was, disappears into a distance into a fog. What remains is his footage.” — Werner Herzog

The most disturbing part of Werner Herzog’s documentary Grizzly Man (2005) is not the gruesome nature of Timothy Treadwell’s fate. Rather it’s Treadwell’s misguided benevolence which was self-serving and came from a profound misunderstanding of nature. Herzog weaves found footage from the last few years of Treadwell’s summers observing grizzly bears in Alaska and almost theatrical interviews with his loved ones and locals to paint the portrait a complex individual. While Treadwell’s violent death looms over the film, Herzog expertly engages the audience in what seems like a film within a film, one that Treadwell was still making when his subject became his killer. In the end, this is a film about an individual who went from a child who loved teddy bears to a traumatized man who desperately wanted to be accepted by a dangerous and ultimately indifferent creature.

Posted BIPOC

Remaining Native

“I want to hurt for him and all my other ancestors. I want to remember where I come from and to not forget the community that raised me.” — Ku Stevens

Trauma carries on through generations with the ripple effects lasting long after the ancestor’s pain is forgotten. One young man is keeping the memory of his great-grandfather alive. It’s not something he has to do but rather something he feels compelled to do.

Directed by Paige Bethmann (Haudenosaunee), Remaining Native is a documentary that follows the story of Ku Stevens, an Indigenous teen and track star who dreams of becoming a college-level athlete. He runs on the open dirt roads of his native rural Nevada. It’s the same path that his great-grandfather ran when he escaped the Stewart School, a reformatory boarding school that forced Native American children to assimilate into white culture.

As Ku, whose full name Kutoven means “the eagle who brings light from the darkness”, trains towards a sub 9 minute 2-mile run, he contemplates the times his great-grandfather had to run and the suffering he must have endured to escape a cruel system that tried to strip him of his Native identity. Ku is wise beyond his years. To honor his ancestor and to help his community honor theirs, he helps lead a Remembrance Run; a 2-day, 50 mile race that follows the path that his great-grandfather would have taken to escape the Stewart School and return to his homeland.

Remaining Native beautifully balances the duality of the story in which Ku’s journey to become a college athlete mirrors his great-grandfather’s pursuit of freedom. It also works as a sports documentary with much time spent on Ku’s athletic journey. Ku is a fascinating subject and it’s clear he’ll go on to do great things. I do wish there was a bit more information about the history behind the Stewart School and how it affected Ku’s community. But overall this is Ku’s story and it’s an honor to witness it.

Remaining Native is part of 2025 SIFF’s cINeDIGENOUS festival program.

Posted BIPOC

Dear Aloha

“Aloha sustains Hawai’ians by reminding us who we are.”

Hawai’i is one of the most beautiful places on earth and the Kanaka (Native Hawai’ians) feel a strong connection to their homeland. However, over the years life on the islands has become too expensive for the Kanaka to live and thrive. Many move to the mainland to raise their families including director Cris Romento’s family who moved to Vancouver, Washington over thirty years ago. In Romento’s short documentary Dear Aloha, she interviews members of the Hawai’ian diaspora, in particular her father Eric who still mourns losing his homeland. He still feels the pride of his homeland as many in the diaspora do.

The film explores this displacement of Hawai’ians and the ongoing fight for the Kanaka to stay. A tender and bittersweet film with a lot of heart and a bit of hope for the future. I would love to see this expanded into a full-length feature. There are many films about immigration but not enough about diasporas. And the plight of the Hawai’ian diaspora is one that definitely needs to be spotlighted.

Description: “Two Native Hawai’ians living in the Pacific Northwest reflect on how Aloha sustains them amidst distance, loss, and longing.” (source)

Dear Aloha is part of 2025 SIFF’s cINeDIGENOUS festival program.

Posted BIPOC

Drowned Land

“If you go back to any industry or anybody coming to this valley, the only thing they’ve been after is natural resources. It was never to build something here. It was always to take something…”

“If you go back to any industry or anybody coming to this valley, the only thing they’ve been after is natural resources. It was never to build something here. It was always to take something…”

When President Andrew Jackson and Congress enacted the Indian Removal Bill, the Choctaw people were the first to be removed from their ancestral land. They were relocated by force to the Kiamichi River valley in Oklahoma. Jackson promised that Native Americans would possess their land “as long as the grass grows and the river runs.” Now in present day, the Choctaw Nation, the energy industry is threatening to stop that flow of water by creating a dam on the Kiamichi River. This puts the rural community and the delicate ecosystem of the valley at great risk. Water is life and changing the flow risks relocating the Choctaw people just like their ancestors had been years before.

Directed by Colleen Thurston, Drowned Land handles a serious subject with delicacy. The breathtaking beauty of the Kiamichi River valley is put on display with some amazing drone footage. Wisdom of the Choctaw members and the concerned locals shines through. The film serves as both a nature documentary and one about Native American history. Drowned Land is a true gem of a film.

Drowned Land is part of 2025 SIFF’s cINeDIGENOUS festival program.

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