Ballard Community Taskforce on Homelessness and Hunger hosts film screening & discussion Thursday

By Joe Veyera

The Ballard Community Taskforce on Homelessness and Hunger will host a screening and discussion on a series of four short animated films on Thursday morning, all of which describe the experiences of families living with homelessness and poverty.

American Refugees — a project of Seattle University’s Center for Strategic Communications — features the work of six acclaimed Seattle-area filmmakers, who worked with students, staff, and community partners to create films in an effort to tell the stories of the thousands of families in Washington state who are homeless or living in poverty. The project was supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and was managed by Lindy Boustedt.

“Super Dads,” by Sihanouk Mariona, an Emmy award-winning stop-motion animator, features fathers and children sharing their worries, feelings, challenges and how they overcame being homeless using stop motion animated clay characters.

In “The Beast Inside,” by Amy Enser and Drew Christie, a teen in a homeless family describes his challenges and celebrates the triumph of his creative self, as told through spoken word rap and illustrated with hand-drawn animations.

“Home for Sale,” by Laura Jean Cronin, chronicles the experiences of prospective buyers walking through an empty, foreclosed home while seeing moments from the family who had previously lived there, and what led to them losing their home.

“The Smiths,” by Neely Goniodsky, uses hand-drawn animation, along with digital cutouts and paintings, to tell the story of how a family has fallen into homelessness, and how they move out of it with the help of a compassionate, supportive community.

The screening begins at 10:30 a.m. in the east meeting room at the Nyer Urness House (1753 NW 56th St), with the discussion to follow based on the guide produced by The Center for Strategic Communications.

For more information on the Ballard Community Taskforce on Homelessness and Hunger, click here. View the trailer for American Refugees by clicking on the video below.