Someone Lives Here

This screening took place on Thursday, February 15, 2024 at 6:00 pmYukon Theatre

Someone Lives Here is a modern-day David and Goliath story, set against the backdrop of North America's housing crisis. Carpenter Khaleel Seivwright builds small, life-saving shelters for unhoused people living outside in Toronto during the winter of the pandemic. His actions attract international attention, but also staunch opposition from city officials.

In the summer of 2021, Khaleel Seivwright, decided to build tiny homes for Toronto’s homeless population. Soon afterwards, the city told him that he wasn’t allowed to place them in city parks, citing safety issues, despite a lack of available shelter beds. Someone Lives Here, which won the Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary at Hot Docs 2023, is deftly told by first-time documentarian Zack Russell, who captures this Kafkaesque story in a humane and empathetic way. We see how people living in the tiny homes were harassed by some members of the public who were worried they would bring down the area’s property values. Police-enforced evictions reach a dramatic climax as organizers in favor of the tiny homes lock arms in the face of violence and arrests. An important story for our time, as housing insecurity across Canada reaches new heights and people look to find solutions in the face of bureaucratic roadblocks.

Genre: Documentary