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A National Film Board of Canada production
Monthly archive May, 2012
30 May 2012 / , / Article / Featured / Interview / Montreal / Toronto

“Life is as you make it” Homelessness, Housing and Choice

by Thomas Leblanc

A still from Here At Home film, "Money Changes You"

When asked how he feels about housing, James, the participant in the film, Money Changes You, has this surprising answer:

I’d rather be back on the street because I understand the street better than living indoors.  Living outdoors you’re completely free. You’re independent and life is as you make it day by day by yourself and it’s more honest and honourable. Because once you’re indoors you start having all the syndromes of modern industrial society. Living indoors you go soft right away. I wish I could still stay outside and just live life as it comes along, but unfortunately now I’m pension age. And money changes you. I have an income.

Besides James, several other participants in the Here At Home films make statements that seem to reinforce the popular assumption that homelessness is a choice. If this assumption is true, how can a program like At Home possibly succeed? If it’s not true, what’s behind these statements?

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15 May 2012 / , / Featured / Housing First / Interview / Montreal

“A dramatic power shift” – Housing First Founder, Sam Tsemberis

by Oisin Curran

A still from the Here At Home film, "Evicted"

The Housing First approach at the heart of the At Home study was created by Dr. Sam Tsemberis in NYC back in the early 90s. He was born in Greece, immigrated to Montreal with his family when he was eight, and later moved to New York for graduate studies. In addition to his many other duties, he is now serving as a consultant to the At Home study. A charismatic and engaging personality, he agreed to speak with me over the phone a few weeks ago and I’ve excerpted a portion of that conversation.

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15 May 2012 / / Featured / Interview / Uncategorized / Vancouver

“Roll with things as they come” – Filmmaker, Lynne Stopkewich

by Oisin Curran

Lynne Stopkewich has had a distinguished career in feature films, documentaries and TV. While it’s clear that she’s deeply immersed herself in the issues that surround this project, what has most impressed me about her work is its powerful and distinct visual style. Easy-going and thoughtful, she spoke with me over the phone from her home in Vancouver.

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15 May 2012 / / Featured / Interview / Toronto

“Housing alone wouldn’t work” – Researcher, Paula Goering

by Oisin Curran

A still from the Here At Home film, "Will to Live"

Paula Goering is not only the lead researcher of the At Home/Chez Soi study, she and Senior Executive staff from the Mental Health Commission of Canada headed the team that designed it. We’ve consulted her many times while creating this web documentary and have come to admire her remarkable ability to blend compassion with scientific rigour. Despite a hectic schedule, she agreed to be interviewed over the phone a few weeks ago. This article is a very small excerpt from that conversation. More will follow.  

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15 May 2012 / / Director / Featured / Filmmaker / Interview / Toronto

“Incredible insights” – Filmmaker, Manfred Becker

by Oisin Curran

Manfred Becker is a documentary filmmaker and editor based in Toronto. In addition to directing films for Here At Home, he serves as a consultant on the documentary project as a whole. He has provided a necessary critical perspective. What follows is excerpted from a longer interview I conducted with him earlier this month.

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14 May 2012 / / Director / Featured / Filmmaker / Interview / Winnipeg

“Everybody has a story” – Filmmaker, Darryl Nepinak

by Oisin Curran

photo by Susan Horodyska

Darryl Nepinak is an accomplished independent filmmaker who works closely with the Aboriginal community of his hometown, Winnipeg. His no-nonsense approach to the Here At Home project has resulted in films of raw, direct intensity. I caught up with him in early May as he was dealing with issues related to his latest work.

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14 May 2012 / / Director / Featured / Filmmaker / Montreal

“The reality of homelessness” – Filmmaker Sarah Fortin

by Thomas Leblanc

Sarah Fortin may be the youngest of Here At Home‘s five directors, but she is already well established in Quebec’s documentary filmmaking scene. Even-tempered and independent, she’s a triple-threat who directs, films and edits her own work. She has developed direct lines of communication with the At Home staff in Montreal, where public health and community organizations are trying to find solutions to homelessness.

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14 May 2012 / / Filmmaker / Interview / Moncton

“There’s beauty in mental illness” – Filmmaker, Louiselle Noël

by Thomas Leblanc

Director, Louiselle Noël

Louiselle Noël’s low-key, realist films reflect her Acadian identity. With this project, she turns the camera on a little-known, but rapidly growing, problem – rural homelessness. Her first two films for the web documentary are gentle portraits of Lise and Hector, two participants who have benefited enormormously from the At Home study. What follows is a Montreal-Moncton phone conversation about beauty.

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» "At Home"

The largest study of its kind in the world, "At Home" is the Mental Health Commission’s radical 4-year experiment to end homelessness for people with mental illness.

» "Here At Home"

For 18 months NFB Interactive is providing a window on the experiment via a web documentary series of short films.

» To visit the "Here At Home" webdoc, click here.

» Blog

Featuring interviews, articles and updates, the "Here At Home" blog is a place where we can dig a bit deeper into some of the ideas and experiences shaping the project.

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A National Film Board of Canada production
in association with the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) © 2012