Phantom Heritage

Cranes and Voices

Cranes and Voices explores the evocative power of sound through the experiences of people who hear voices and a collective of sound investigators, tenants documenting their neighborhood. By bringing together listening experiences, housing, and creative practices, the film approaches sound as an ambivalent force, questioning our ability to listen—to the city, to others, and to ourselves.

Copan

2026 · ★ 6

In the heart of São Paulo, the Copan building houses more than five thousand residents and becomes the stage for a heated election. The building manager, who has held the position for 30 years, fights to keep his job, while an even bigger dispute unfolds outside the building's walls, with Lula and Jair Bolsonaro vying for the presidency of Brazil.

Anonymous

2017

A short film about the changing face of London Soho and the implications of gentrification on Mimi, an aging transvestite.

REMOVED: Black Erasure in Boston

Systemic and structural racism implemented by the city of Boston over the years has led to a dramatic stripping of generational wealth for Black residents, so much so that the average net worth of Black Americans in Boston is now only eight dollars. The racist grading process of ‘redlining’ primarily black neighborhoods, combined with the displacing effect of various ‘urban renewal’ projects, set the template for the wider scale gentrification seen today that is pricing black residents of Boston out of their communities. On top of that, the mass incarceration of Black Bostonians has also led to a further disruption of Black communities. The combined effect of these state sanctioned actions has led to the erasure of Black Americans in Boston.

One Big Home

2017

On the tiny island of Martha's Vineyard, where presidents and celebrities vacation, trophy homes threaten to destroy the islands unique character. Twelve years in the making, One Big Home follows one carpenters journey to understand the trend toward giant houses. When he feels complicit in wrecking the place he calls home, he takes off his tool belt and picks up a camera.

Fish Kill Flea

2007 · ★ 10

Once thriving, a dead mall in upstate New York is now home to a ragtag flea market, living proof that the American Dream is in perpetual decay. Blending vérité with a stylized wit, this heartbreaking portrait raises questions about our disposable culture through the unfiltered lives of its eccentric community.

I Am Gentrification. Confessions of a Scoundrel

2018

Is the city of Zurich suffering from ‘density stress’? What is it like to live in mega cities such as São Paulo, Mexico City and Tiflis? Filmmaker Thomas Haemmerli broaches the topics of city development, architecture, density, housing market, xenophobia and gentrification from an autobiographical perspective. The path of his life has led him from a childhood in the villa district of Zürichberg, through his teenage years as squatter to flat shares, yuppie apartments and finally second homes in various cities. Only recently having become a dad, he plans to further enhance Zurich’s price appreciation by purchasing a huge, extended city apartment… This multifaceted essay not only humorously questions the filmmaker’s decisions, but also those of the right-wing conservatives, who are afraid of losing their space to immigrants, and the political left, who fail to embrace modern-age architecture.

Go-Go City: Displacement & Protest in Washington, DC

For decades, Washington, DC has been a beacon for Black culture and Go-Go music. Now, a wave of economic and cultural gentrification threatens to erase this history, as displaced communities take to the streets to protest and defend the city’s iconic Go-Go sound.

Caged Men: Tales from Chicago's SRO Hotels

2017

Caged. Invisible. Shamed. Trapped. These words mark the tenants, clerks and even the owners of Chicago's last remaining Singe Room Occupancy (SRO) hotels. These small spaces are home for many at the bottom of Chicago's housing ladder. Cloaked in darkness and secrecy, these hotels are often maligned as drug dens and havens for prostitution but the people who live, work and own these hotels have never fully shared their stories. Caged Men is a feature-length documentary which examines the disquieting stories of near-homeless Americans living on the margins and their invisibility in a largely indifferent and, at times, hostile community. It attempts to lend a voice to SRO residents, clerks, owners and to the hotels themselves.

Unarmed Verses

2017 · ★ 10

Toronto filmmaker Charles Officer profiles the young people of Villaways Park, a housing project on brink of historic change.

Flag Wars

2003 · ★ 4.5

Filmed over four years, this documentary focuses on the impacts of gentrification as gay white professionals move into a largely black working-class neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio.

Raízes Perdidas

2026

No synopsis available.