The Block

In central Oslo, Egil (78) and his neighbors in an apartment block are threatened with losing their rented flats to a billionaire raiding such old apartment blocks around Oslo, just as he has done all over Northern Europe. We face the harsh reality of living on the wrong side of the shiny welfare state in one of the world’s wealthiest countries. The film portrays what happens when a group of people constantly live in fear of being thrown out of their homes in an affluent society.

2023-08-29 | no

Montréal: The Neighborhood Revived

This full-length documentary from the Challenge for Change program addresses housing issues affecting Montreal in the mid-1970s. As the city is restoring older apartments through direct action and government subsidies, new, low-rent housing is being integrated into old neighborhoods.

1974-04-16 | en

Machine Plate

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New Towns for Old

Sheffield stands in as 'Smokedale', an industrial Everytown, in this stirring call for "new schools, new hospitals, new roads, new life", after WWII.

1942-01-01 | en

Chicago at the Crossroad

While gun violence was on the decline in most major US cities, why did it continue to increase in Chicago's segregated communities? What is known about the systems that created the problem, the laws that isolated it, and the policies that abandoned it? Using dramatic footage, including interviews with residents on the front lines over the last 15 years, this documentary opens a rare historical window into the systematic creation of poverty stricken communities plagued by gun violence. 

2019-06-01 | en

Huset

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The People of the Kattawapiskak River

Alanis Obomsawin’s documentary The People of the Kattawapiskak River exposes the housing crisis faced by 1,700 Cree in Northern Ontario, a situation that led Attawapiskat’s band chief, Theresa Spence, to ask the Canadian Red Cross for help. With the Idle No More movement making front page headlines, this film provides background and context for one aspect of the growing crisis.

2012-10-17 | en

The Bubble

Diving deep into the true causes of the Great Recession, the financial crisis of the 2010s, renowned economists, investors and business leaders explain what America is facing if we don't learn from our past mistakes. Is the economy really improving or are we just blowing up another Bubble?

2018-07-12 | en

As This Happens

Twelve Mexicans, scattered across different cities worldwide, capture their personal experiences during the early days of the 2020 pandemic lockdown. With only the resources at hand, they document their daily lives, reflecting the uncertainty, confusion, and anxiety that marked this unprecedented moment in history. From the relative comfort of isolation at home to the vulnerability of those at risk of losing their jobs or fighting the virus on the front lines.

2023-10-14 | es

The Bigger Bubble

After starting a painting business right before the housing crash, a filmmaker drives over 35,000 miles to track down the people who saw it coming and look ahead to the consequences of a decade of secret bank bailouts and 0% interest.

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Appartement proche Paris, charme atypique

Five floors. Forty apartments. Rats, leaks and debts. In Pantin, I live in a building with a danger order. Under court order, we have to renovate it. Between Dantesque arguments, missing money and humor as a fire extinguisher, I film our collective rescue.

2025-01-25 | fr

Comme un rayon de soleil sur la peau

2025-02-06 | fr

Neighbor by Neighbor: Mobilizing an Invisible Community in Lewiston, Maine

In the summer of 2004, the Mayor of Lewiston, Maine announced a plan to develop a four-lane boulevard across downtown's low-income neighborhood. This project was called "The Heritage Initiative." Contrary to its name, this plan was going to eliminate the downtown's heritage by displacing 850 people from their homes as well as destroy playgrounds, vegetable gardens, and historic buildings. Moving residents out of the city and improving traffic flow was at the heart of this proposal... It was 1960's Urban Renewal all over again. As tragic as the circumstances were, the threat of a road destroying the neighborhood required residents to rise to the challenge of becoming *community organizers. This movie documents 5 years of development and community organizing in Lewiston. It's an exceptional story about the people of Lewiston, but it's also a universal story about the challenges faced by many urban neighborhoods across the United States.

2009-01-01 | en

Dandara: Enquanto Morar for um Privilégio, Ocupar é um Direito

2013-09-08 | pt

Roaches' Lullaby

A humorous short documentary which features interviews with three zealous New York City roach-haters who demonstrate their own extermination techniques and recount - in hilarious detail - their own personal experiences with cockroaches. Includes an original musical composition lamenting the presence of this pesty insect in urban life

1972-02-07 | en

Wartime Housing

During WWII, there was a need for affordable housing of decent quality. In response, small pre-fabricated homes were built quickly and efficiently to accommodate the influx of workers to urban areas.

1943-01-01 | en

Portrait of Penge

Film about the town of Penge featuring local personalities, housing, shopping, traffic and the Penge formation dancers.

1964-01-01 | en

A ház

1975-07-10 | hu

Trespassing or Close Encounters of the 3rd World

2023-08-28 | pt

Holding Our Ground

Filmed in a squatter community of Labangon in Cebu, Philippines, Holding Our Ground is the inspiring story of a group of women who have organized collectively to pressure their government for land reform, to establish their own money-lending system and to create shelters for street kids. A story of grassroots organizing that can be a model in both hemispheres.

1988-01-01 | en