''Someone Lives Here'' is a 2023 Canadian documentary film, directed by

Zack Russell Zack Russell is a Canadian writer and filmmaker.Andrew Parker"TIFF 2018 Short Takes: Zack Russell on 7A" ''TheGATE.ca'', September 5, 2018. He is most noted for his 2015 short film ''She Stoops to Conquer'', which was the winner of the Canadian Scre ...

. The film profiles Khaleel Seivwright, a carpenter who has launched a project of building small private shelters for

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

people in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, against the bureaucratic resistance of the city government. The film premiered at the 2023

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...

, where it was named the winner of the Rogers Audience Award.

Critical response

Rachel Ho of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' praised the film, writing that "Russell may not have had aspirations to become a documentarian, but he sure has a natural knack for it. The film comes in at a lean 75 minutes, the perfect amount of time to tell Seivwright's story and explore the various angles to the greater issue of homelessness in Toronto. It's a simple thing, but particularly for a first-time documentary filmmaker, Russell shows a lot of restraint in not adding unnecessary pomp, ensuring the maximum impact is felt." The film was named to the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

's annual Canada's Top Ten list for 2023.

Awards

It was a nominee for the Allan King Award for Best Documentary Film at the 2023 Directors Guild of Canada awards, and won the award for Best Canadian Documentary Film at the

2023 Vancouver International Film Festival The 2023 Vancouver International Film Festival, the 42nd event in the history of the Vancouver International Film Festival, was held from September 28 to October 8, 2023. Awards Winners of the juried Canadian film awards were announced on Octob ...

. The film was shortlisted for the Rogers Best Canadian Documentary Award at the

Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 2023 The 27th Toronto Film Critics Association Awards, honouring the best films released in 2023, were announced on December 17, 2023. To create a contemporary reflection of inclusivity, the TFCA eliminated gender-based acting categories for 2023. Two ...

, and the Canadian Screen Awards for Best Feature Length Documentary and Best Editing in a Documentary ( Marianna Khoury) at the

12th Canadian Screen Awards The 12th Canadian Screen Awards is an upcoming ceremony, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television and digital media production in 2023. They are scheduled to be held at the Can ...

in 2024."BlackBerry Leads CSA Nominations"
''Northern Stars'', March 6, 2024.

References

External links

* 2023 films 2023 documentary films Canadian documentary films Documentary films about homelessness in Canada 2020s English-language films 2020s Canadian films Documentary films about Toronto {{2020s-Canada-documentary-film-stub