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Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
A Preteen Lives in Abject Poverty in Doc ‘Flophouse America': ‘Making Audiences Want to Rescue Mikal Is the Point'
Norwegian director Monica Strømdahl spent years traveling across the United States, documenting life in cheap hotels also known as flophouses. Then in 2017, she met 11-year-old Mikal in a hotel lobby. Strømdahl had met many children in flophouses, but Mikal was the only child whom she had met born into the situation. Eventually, after building a mutual trust, Mikal and his parents agreed to let Strømdahl film them in their home, where the bathroom doubled as a kitchen, for three years. The result is 'Flophouse America,' a documentary about Mikal, his parents, and the small home that they share. Amid addiction and chaos is a surprising amount of love and hope. The doc makes it clear that Mikal's heartbreaking situation is more common in the U.S. than many people may think. More from Variety Jambika Boards 'Unwelcomed' as the Chilean Film Heads to Hot Docs (EXCLUSIVE) 'Speak' Directors on Making Doc About Teenage Orators: 'I Thought This Would Be the Most Entertaining Way to Help Make Education and Empathy Great Again' 'Militantropos' Acquired by Square Eyes Ahead of Premiere in Cannes' Directors' Fortnight (EXCLUSIVE) Statistics read by Mikal at the beginning of the doc make that clear. 'The official poverty rate in the U.S. is 11.5%, meaning that approximately 34 million people live in poverty,' Mikal says. 'Many low-income families resort to long-term stays in hotels or motels due to a lack of access to affordable housing. About 1 in 10 children, 7.5 million, live in households with at least one parent who has an alcohol abuse disorder.' ''Flophouse America' is filmed in America and in one bedroom, but it's important to remember that millions of children fall through the cracks of society worldwide,' Strømdahl told Variety. 'As documentary filmmakers, we have a duty to hold up a mirror to those cracks. Only by showing what the problem feels like can we begin to do something about it.' Since he was underage while the footage was being shot, Strømdahl waited three years after filming was complete for Mikal to become an adult and to get his consent to share his story. In March, 'Flophouse America' had its world premiere in the main competition section of Copenhagen's documentary festival CPH:DOX. This was followed by screenings at Visions du Réel in Switzerland, Movies That Matter in the Netherlands, and Docville in Belgium. Ahead of the film's screening at Poland's Docs without Gravity fest next month, Variety spoke with Strømdahl. Strømdahl: Mikal's parents let me film because they wanted to be understood. There was a lot of pain in their lives, but also a lot of honesty. They knew they were struggling, but they were also proud to have given Mikal a better upbringing than they had. In their eyes, he was protected from the life they had to endure, and in that sense, they had been very successful. I think they saw the film as a way to tell the truth about addiction, about poverty, and about trying to give the next generation better chances in life. They also trusted that I would treat them with care, not judgment. It was important to me that they knew they had the power in the room, when I was filming or not. Mikal saw the camera as a way to be seen. He's a very perceptive and emotionally intelligent boy. In a home where adult emotions often dominated the space, the camera became a way for him to claim some of it back. He used it, in a sense, as a mirror to show his parents how he felt and what he was going through. He had a hope that the film would help them understand his perspective. We talked about this throughout the process. He was never passive; he was very aware. This dilemma, whether to keep filming or step in, is as old as documentary itself. I never feared for Mikal's immediate safety, but I was deeply concerned about the long-term impact his environment could have on him. That's why I spent so much time with the family: to understand their dynamic, to move with care and intention. And honestly, I think I did intervene by making this film together with the family. I wasn't absent. I stayed in close contact with them throughout, and we made a care plan ensuring Mikal received long-term therapeutic support. I do believe he felt seen and empowered by the process, and by my presence. In a way, making audiences want to rescue Mikal is the point. It didn't surprise me at all; the love was always present. From the very beginning, it was important to me to show the family not just as statistics, but as full, complex human beings. Mikal's parents had a clear goal: to give him a safer, more emotionally open upbringing than they had themselves. They wanted him to feel loved, and they gave him space to express himself at all times. Their way of communicating, their openness, and their emotional honesty are qualities many might envy. That's what I tried to show in the film, not just the struggle, but the connection, the intent, and the humanity that persisted through it all. One of Mikal's motivations for being part of the film was to connect with his parents and help them understand what life was like for him. When we showed the footage to Jason and Mikal together, it became a powerful moment where they were able to connect in a new way. They had conversations they had never had before. It opened up a space for honesty, and I believe it helped in the process of healing. It brought them closer in some ways. This new connection between them will, for me, stand as one of the most important moments in the whole process of making this film. Sales agency Lightbox boarded 'Flophouse America' in March. The film is seeking distribution. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week What's Coming to Disney+ in April 2025 The Best Celebrity Memoirs to Read This Year: From Chelsea Handler to Anthony Hopkins
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Militantropos' Acquired by Square Eyes Ahead of Premiere in Cannes' Directors' Fortnight (EXCLUSIVE)
Sales agent Square Eyes has acquired worldwide rights to the Ukrainian feature documentary 'Militantropos,' directed by Alina Gorlova ('This Rain Will Never Stop'), Yelizaveta Smith ('School Number 3') and Simon Mozgovyi ('The Winter Garden's Tale'), ahead of its world premiere in Cannes' Directors' Fortnight program. Wouter Jansen of Square Eyes said 'Militantropos' is 'a powerful and touching cinematic meditation on the impact of war on everyday life.' More from Variety Cannes Directors' Fortnight Unveils 2025 Lineup, Including Christian Petzold's 'Miroirs No. 3,' Eva Victor's 'Sorry, Baby,' Robin Campillo's 'Enzo' Cannes Section ACID Announces Selection, From a 'Feel-Good Movie About Depression' to a New Drama With Paris Olympics 'Blue Man' Sundance Festival Favorite Doc 'Come See Me in the Good Light' Lands at Apple TV+ The script is written by Smith, Gorlova, Mozgovyi and Maksym Nakonechnyi, who directed and co-wrote 'Butterfly Vision,' selected for Cannes' Un Certain Regard in 2022. 'Militantropos' refers to the Latin word for soldier ('milit') and the Greek word for human ('antropos'), meaning a persona adopted by humans when entering a state of war. 'This relentless experience shapes the ongoing transformation of individuals and society as a whole, therefore Militantropos chooses to accept war as the one and only option to exist,' according to a statement. 'Militantropos' explores 'human experience in war—those who flee, who lose their homes, those who stay to take up arms and learn to fight. Through the absence of a main protagonist, the film balances individual and collective experiences, emphasizing their relationships and the transformation of their everyday lives,' the statement added. 'It follows people's reaction to hostilities, atrocities and destruction, the transformation of their everyday lives, public interaction and spaces they live in.' The film is produced by Eugene Rachkovsky for Ukrainian film collective Tabor, also behind 'Butterfly Vision,' in co-production with Ralph Wieser for Austria's Mischief Films and Nabil Bellahsene for France's Les Valseurs. Rachkovsky stated: 'Our collective started filming as a reflex on the first day of the full-scale invasion. After 11 years of working as a collective and experiencing the war side by side, it felt natural to make a collective document of time and explore war as a phenomenon.' Wieser added: 'We were intrigued by [Tabor's] approach from our first virtual meeting. Creative filmmakers offering an extraordinary perspective on Ukraine at war.' Bellahsene said: 'War is not just a geopolitical event, it's a human experience, brutal and intimate. That's why the work of Tabor, a Ukrainian collective of filmmakers, immediately felt essential to us. Their gaze, deeply anchored in lived experience and artistic integrity, offers a powerful and necessary narrative of this moment in history.' 'Militantropos' received support from the Austrian Film Institute, Vienna Film Fund, ÖFI+, Creative Europa Media, Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport, Special Aid for Ukrainian Artists, the Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine in partnership with the CNC, SWR and Arte. Initial support was provided by the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program with support from Open Society Foundations, the European Solidarity Fund for Ukrainian Films, IDFA Bertha Fund, Ukrainian Film Academy's Post-Production Grant Program in partnership with Netflix, the Ukrainian Institute and Eurimages, Visions Sud Est, Goeteborg Film Fund, IMW: Documenting Ukraine, and Deutsche Filmakademie (Filmboost Germany). The project was developed and presented at Berlinale Talents, Visions du Réel and IDFA. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week What's Coming to Disney+ in April 2025 The Best Celebrity Memoirs to Read This Year: From Chelsea Handler to Anthony Hopkins
