Tuesday night ConnPIRG hosted a free showing of "Shelter: A Squatumentary," a documentary studying the lives of squatters: people who live in, or make use of, abandoned buildings. Jeffrey Czerwiec, ConnPIRG's campus organizer, said that by showing this film, ConnPIRG "hopes to spread awareness about hunger and homelessness… there is not enough low cost housing and this is one way people are dealing with it."
The showing of this documentary was a precursor to a number of events ConnPIRG is involved with during National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, beginning Nov. 16.
According to Czerwiec, ConnPIRG will begin National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week by participating in a "statewide grocery store necessity drive, where students stand outside grocery stores informing people what items their local shelters are in need of."
On Nov. 17, ConnPIRG will host a "Faces of the Homeless" panel, where several homeless or previously homeless people will be available for a question and answer session.
"We are conducting this Q-and-A session to try and dispose of myths about the homeless," Czerweic said.
The next day, Nov. 18, the much anticipated annual Homelessness Sleepout will take place. Students sleep outside in self-made cardboard shelters and are meant to experience one night in the life of someone who has no home.
And that barely sheltered life is what "Shelter: A Squatumentary" is addressing. The documentary presented an interesting alternative solution to haphazard shelters: transforming neglected housing, abandoned factories and any other forgotten structures into viable, safe living spaces. For some, it is a way to find affordable housing, to others it is a conscious protest against capitalism and the system of real estate.
Steve, one squatter in the documentary, has been battling to keep his residence for some time. He has accumulated utility bills, property tax forms, mail, and other legal documents, yet the city of Oakland, Calif., still will not allow him to live in his house. He claims their only motive is money. Steve says allowing house squatting cuts the chain of cash down the hierarchy of real estate, and also would destroy the system's monopoly on providing shelter for citizens.
After watching the documentary, Ed Goodfriend, a 3rd-semester exploratory major, thought squatting to be an innovative idea. "I think it's a viable alternative to living in a house," Goodfriend said.
The documentary captured the lives of several groups of squatters, all living in the San Francisco area. The director of the movie, Hannah Dobbz, was one of the squatters. She said she "started squatting because I thought I could have a home and not pay rent…some anarchist dream or something." Dobbz squatted successfully for a whole year and a half in an old industrial building before the building was sold to, and demolished by, her city of residence, Emeryville, Calif.
"I thought it was an interesting and different perspective," said Jessica Cullen, a 5th-semester English and education double major. "[It] was a positive spin on something that is usually thought to be a bad thing."
If a property is not being used, squatters argue, then why shouldn't someone be able to turn that property into a house or community center?
Tom DiMauro, a 3rd-semester pre-teaching major, agreed with many of the arguments of the squatters in the documentary. "The documentary…sparked interest in DIY ethics," said DiMauro.
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