Author: Justin

We’re going to Texas!

After a lengthy submission process, small fees, big hopes, and anticipation, we are excited to announce the official premiere of our documentary Unhoused Neighbors at the San Antonio Film Festival. 

We’re thrilled to have this opportunity to share the film, and the stories it tells, with people from around the country. 

Unhoused Neighbors will be shown Thursday, July 23rd at 12:30PM, at the historic Gunter Theater. 

Tickets are available now to see the film, and day-long or weekend passes are available for affordable rates on the SAFF website.

The stories documented in Unhoused Neighbors are powerful. We can’t wait to share them with an audience of film enthusiasts and filmmakers, many of whom will have been touched in some way by the national crisis in housing insecurity whose human stories we collected in Sacramento.

The sold-out sneak peek screening in Sacramento last week brought together crew, participants, and community in the first-ever chance for the public to view a full-length cut of the Unhoused Neighbors film. Several of the current or formerly unhoused participants who shared their personal stories in the film attended the sneak peek, and joined in the Q and A responding to questions from the audience.

An audience survey let the production team gather valuable feedback at this critical point when a full-length cut of the film exists, but there is still time to make adjustments before a final cut debuts at film festivals, which the team are currently submitting the film to.

After Director Preston Allen introduced the film and the screening concluded, Associate Producer A.L. Pruitt emcee’d the Q and A, fielding questions from the audience about the production and about the situations and conditions represented in the film.

We are deeply grateful for the feedback, curiosity and enthusiasm shared by the audience at the screening. Thanks as well to the Sacramento Railroad Museum for permitting us to rent their theater space.

Unhoused Neighbors was featured on Insight With Vicki Gonzalez, a Capital Public Radio program on news, events, politics and culture in the Sacramento region. On the March 19th, 2025 episode, Gonzalez interviewed director Preston Allen and director of photography Gavin Viega ahead of their film screening at the California State Railroad Museum on March 21, 2025.

Listen to the segment here:

From the beginning of spring 2023 to the end of winter 2024, our team undertook the main phase of production in Sacramento: visiting camps and community centers, and following our participants through the experiences they shared with us.

Here are a few glimpses from behind the scenes.

Above: the crew filming at a camp and park

Above: the crew filming with Lauren, one of the participants in Unhoused Neighbors

Above: the crew filming with Jordan and Cali, two of our participants, collecting recyclables

Listen to our director, Preston Allen, as he shares the background of our documentary with our new friends Ben Rice (Barley and Me Podcast) and Courtney Edwards (KC Kombucha).