Secret Mall Apartment

JEREMY WORKMAN | USA | 2024 | 1'32"

In 2003, eight Rhode Island artists created a secret apartment inside the busy Providence Place Mall and lived there for four years, filming everything along the way. They snuck in furniture, tapped into the mall’s electricity, and even constructed a wall, smuggling in more than two tons of cinderblock.

Far more than just a wild prank, the secret apartment became a deeply meaningful place for its inhabitants. It was a personal expression of defiance against local gentrification, a boundary-pushing work of public/private art, a clubhouse in which large-scale charitable art projects were planned, and, finally, a 750 square-foot “F you” to The Man.

Featuring never-before-seen footage of the space and revealing the identities of all the participants for the first time, SECRET MALL APARTMENT is more than just a bonkers true story. Director Jeremy Workman, whose “Lily Topples The World” won the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW 2021, delivers a poignant exploration of a group of artists who discovered their purpose within the most commercial and improbable places.

“Making SECRET MALL APARTMENT was an absolutely joyful and meaningful experience. I feel privileged to share this incredible tale and bring it to a new audience. Hopefully, the story can resonate further. We all continue to live in the shadows of these larger economic systems. Corporations come and remake our neighborhoods, and we’re forced to adjust to their whims. We all are under the thumb of an increasingly commodified lifestyle, harder and harder to stand up and assert our identity. SECRET MALL APARTMENT is a reminder to declare your presence and individuality in the most unlikely and unique ways. It’s also one heck of an incredible story.”

Jeremy Workman

Credits

Director/Producer: Jeremy Workman
Executive Producer: Jesse Eisenberg
Co-Editor: Paul Murphy
Cinematographers: Michael Lisnet, Dan Kennedy