BRATTLEBORO-The Latchis Theatre will host two special screenings of the 2024 award-winning documentary, Secret Mall Apartment, followed by discussions, on Friday, April 25, and Saturday, April 26, at 7 p.m.
Secret Mall Apartment tells the true story of eight Rhode Islanders who created a secret apartment inside the busy Providence Place Mall in 2003 and kept it going for four years, filming everything along the way.
"Far more than just a wild prank," film promoters say, "the secret mall apartment became an incredibly meaningful act for all the participants: at once an act of defiance against local gentrification, a boundary-pushing work of public/private art, and a 750-square-foot space that sticks it to the man."
On April 25, the screening will be followed by a discussion with the film's main subject, Michael Townsend. On Saturday, April 26, director Jeremy Workman will take the Latchis stage to discuss the film after the 7 p.m. screening.
Introduced to enthusiastic audiences in March 2024 at the SXSW Film festival, Secret Mall Apartment has garnered praise and honors at numerous festivals since then. Released to theaters last month, the film has a 100% rating on the Tomatometer. It is co-produced by Jesse Eisenberg.
Workman's film, Lily Topples the World, which documents champion domino toppler Lily Hevesh, was previously shown at the Latchis. Workman has a close connection to the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center and to Brattleboro. Townsend also has close ties to the museum and to Brattleboro as one of the artists leading the tape art project "Honoring Honar" in 2022 and a public tape art project at BMAC in 2023.
Regular movie admission - $10 general, $8 for students, senior, and military - applies to the special screenings. Additional donations are welcome and will be shared between the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center and the Latchis.
Secret Mall Apartment will have additional screenings during a week-long run at the Latchis. Details of those are still to be determined. For information, visit latchis.com.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.