Sacramento’s ABC Channel 10 news hosted director Preston Allen on March 10th to talk briefly about our film on Sacramento’s unhoused community and the upcoming sneak peek screening of Unhoused Neighbors, scheduled for March 21st. We’re grateful for the exposure and chance to talk about the production!
Category: Updates
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Sneak peek screening coming in March — view the full Unhoused Neighbors film
We’re super excited to invite you to a sneak peek screening of the feature-length documentary film Unhoused Neighbors
This sneak peek screening of the full-length film is the culmination of a multi-year production. Be the first to see a final cut of the film before its official debut!
Meet the Unhoused Neighbors production crew at the Sacramento Railroad Museum on Friday, March 21st, 2025 at 6pm (doors at 5:30pm), where after the screening we will have an opportunity for feedback from the audience, with a Q&A session and short survey.
With our film we hope to offer a glimpse into the lives of the unhoused community that have generously shared their stories with us. Please join us and be a part of this special evening!
RSVP for the sneak peek screening here.
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Support Unhoused Neighbors at our January 2025 fundraiser
We’re super excited to invite you to an evening of celebration as we near the end of this multi-year film production!
The event is free to attend and will have food, drinks, live music, a raffle with prizes, and an art auction. Meet the Unhoused Neighbors production crew at the Red Museum to mingle, learn more about this project, and have a sneak peek at part of the film.
Our feature documentary is nearing the end of post-production. Your support at any level will help us as we complete the film’s final details and beyond: from the remaining stages of editing to submitting to film festivals as well a local premiere.
We hope to offer a glimpse into the lives of the unhoused community that have generously shared their stories with us and we thank you for any support for the project you can offer — whether that’s a donation of any size, or helping get the word out about the project.
By simply attending the fundraiser you can secure a free ticket to the sneak peak of the full feature on March 21st at the Sacramento Railroad Museum ($10 value).
RSVP for the fundraiser here.
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Behind the scenes on the Unhoused Neighbors film
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
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A letter from the director
This letter was included in the March 20th edition of Joshua’s House newsletter.
Another Documentary about homelessness? Yes, but this one is different, and not because it provides a new and compelling solution, but because it doesn’t. We often see documentaries about complex issues employ the tried-and-true problem/solution style of filmmaking. This style starts with a problem, the solution is presented, and then there is a call to action which leaves the audience feeling warm and fuzzy because as they walk out of the movie theater, they believe the problem will be solved through collective action and policy change. We have all seen An Inconvenient Truth, and how is the climate crisis going? Not well! How should we treat our planet, is a question not unlike, how should we treat each other? The reality – of course – is before we can begin to fix problems as complex and broad as housing insecurity, we must first address the many prejudices around homelessness.
Today, popular terms like “open drug market,” or “homeless by choice” are narratives, that are not only damaging but founded in a deeply flawed understanding of homelessness. Even the best-intentioned people often point to addiction and mental health as the causes of homelessness. While we often find some truth in stereotypes, that does not change the fact that these are weaponized ideas designed to debase and alienate. In the United States, 60% of American’s live paycheck-to-paycheck, and while some may traffic in ideas of moral superiority or the bourgeoisie, the truth is, we are all one emergency away from being without housing.
The aim of Unhoused Neighbors is to challenge the many stereotypes homelessness is plagued by. To effect sustainable change in this area, people must first recognize a simple reality, the unhoused community is not a monolith, they are a demographic as diverse as any; they are multidimensional people, just like everybody else. Unfortunately, our society struggles to comprehend this fact, due to systemic prejudice and the structural classism our culture is built upon. This is why hearing firsthand accounts from the unhoused community is a powerful way to educate, inform, and hopefully trigger a cognitive shift in how homelessness is perceived so we stop dehumanizing and demoralizing an entire group of individuals that just need a place to call home.
Unhoused Neighbors begins production next month, with the start of Spring, and will continue until the end of Winter, in March of 2024. This will allow the filmmakers a window into how each season impacts the homeless community. The film will tell the stories of individuals at various ages and stages of life, from transitional age youth, adulthood, middle age, and terminal illness. Unhoused Neighbors has partnered with Joshua’s House and during the final season in the film, Winter, the film will follow some terminally ill homeless men and women as they receive comfort care and hospice care in the first program to provide such care to this population on the West Coast.
Unhoused Neighbors has also partnered with Break the Gap, which is acting as its principle fiscal sponsor. We are currently fundraising and need your help!
Please donate so this important film can be made!
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Director Preston Allen talks about Unhoused Neighbors on Barley and Me podcast
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).