Hamilton Families and BAVC Media partner with Argo to stream documentary shorts on SF Bay Area family homelessness
In celebration of Homelessness Awareness Month, Hamilton Families and its studio partner BAVC Media have partnered with the short film streaming platform Argo to launch a playlist called Finding Home which features all three of our documentary short films on family homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The films challenge the meaning of home, and how shelter or lack thereof does not define us as humans. Through various techniques, like first-hand narration, animation, or observational filmmaking, the films show how the bond of family is the real foundation of home. The walls of love serve as shelter. Despite dire circumstances, humans will survive, thrive, and be the heroes of their own story.
Watch Hogar, What You’ll Remember, and About A Home now on Argo. All three films are free to watch until Dec. 1, 2021.
‘Hogar’
Through hand-drawn animation and first-person voiceover, Maria and her 6-year-old son, Emmanuel, recount their memories of being unhoused in San Francisco and what home means to them.
Emily Cohen Ibañez’s “Hogar” flips the traditional narrative about homelessness on its head. Instead of focusing on the darker sides of homelessness, the film shows the positive and vibrant moments between a mother and her son, who happen to be affected by house instability. Their story is portrayed through a combination of tropical latin beats, saturated pastels, and children’s animation. There are popsicles, sea-animals, and palm trees. The characters are smiling and embracing. We realize the effervescent glow of childlike wonder and imagination that flourishes and multiplies in the face of serious challenges. And more significantly, there is a palpable, and undefeatable love between mother and son. We cease to view these individuals as helpless victims of homelessness. Not only do they survive, but they thrive. The film is a stunning manifestation of the meaning of home: “the mind, the heart, and the soul connected is where your home is.” The walls of love hold this family together.
‘What You’ll Remember’
In this New York Times Op-Doc, two young parents reframe their experience of homelessness in an achingly beautiful portrait about home, family and security — and ultimately, as a love letter to their children.
“What You’ll Remember” is an observational documentary, filmed and expressed by a family experiencing homelessness. Elizabeth Herrera documents her family’s living conditions through an iPhone and a gimbal, in raw and real-time footage. Through hand-held shots and long takes, director Erika Cohn allows us to discover the truth about their lives without alteration, intrusion, or interruption. We are not only able to see, but also feel the strength and resilience of Elizabeth and her husband, who have done everything in their power to create a nurturing environment for their four children. Even though the family had to live out of their car, Elizabeth and her husband turned it into a fun experience and framed it as ‘car camping.’ They brought the kids to beautiful parks, barbecued, and cuddled up for late-night movies. They turned hardship into an adventure. What they hope their kids will remember is joy and positivity, not distress and turmoil. Elizabeth invites us and her children into an inner bubble — a cocoon of love that holds the family together. The result is an engrossing story that resonates with one simple message: “Home is not a building. Home is where your family and the people you love are.”
‘About a Home’
Precious Sarria and her family experienced housing insecurity for over two years. After transitioning into housing, they documented their lives to raise awareness for the rising homelessness in regions surrounding Silicon Valley.
In “About a Home” by directors Daniel Chein and Elizabeth Lo, members of the Sarria family take turns documenting everyday life in transitional housing, using an ordinary smartphone. The handheld and spontaneous footage adds immediacy and freshness to their story, but also empowers the subjects. The Sarria family holds the pen. They shape the narrative through their own eyes, ears, voices, and movements. Despite their precarious situation, the family reveals both the quiet and joyous moments during the chaotic phase of finding housing. In the end, the audience must confront the stigmas of individuals suffering from homelessness. We learn that the place we call home does not define who we are, does not strip us of basic humanity, and cannot take away the bursting energy of familial love.
Watch now at watchargo.com.