Secret Mall Apartment

PG / Documentary / 91 mins

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. This engaging documentary was co-produced by Jesse Eisenberg.

“ ’Secret Mall Apartment’ makes a compelling case that the project reverberates through the lives of the artists, and maybe even the city, to this day.” – Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times