Invisible City

Post-secondary students living in the third least affordable city in the world, Vancouver, are being forced into homelessness.

What’s more alarming, though, is that this remains invisible to the naked eye.

Creative team

Writer/director: Desiree Wallace

Filmmaker’s statement

Vancouver’s largest socio-economic issue is the current housing crisis.

On the North Shore of the city there is a common misconception that homelessness does not exist because people do not see it as they do on the Downtown Eastside. In actuality, it is prevalent and growing; it is just hidden.

Growing up in a family of seven children, money was always scarce which led us to join our local soup kitchen and build meaningful relationships with a community of people that have been misunderstood for far too long. I was driven to make this film as a means to dispel these misconceptions and build conversation surrounding housing at large.

What I found in research and development was that students were uncomfortable having their image used in the documentary which, for me, was a stark reminder of the stigma that still surrounds homelessness. I knew that these stories needed to be shared so I made the creative decision of [using] dramatic recreations alongside the chilling audio interviews of the students who shared their voices.

I hope that this short film can offer some leverage to change that reality.

About Desiree Wallace

Desiree Wallace is an established social, environmental justice activist and artist based in Vancouver, BC.

As a co-founder of Beyond Boarding, a media-based collective dedicated to spreading passion and awareness for social movements within the outdoor community, she has explored these avenues through the lens, providing support to leading frontline movements including Unist’ot’en, Tsleil-Waututh Sacred Trust and the Klabona Keepers.

Desiree is a recipient of the Capilano Excellence Scholarship through which she has completed an associate of arts degree in global stewardship and is a recent graduate of the documentary film certificate program at Capilano University’s world class BOSA Centre.

She is now independently pursuing film as a means to share critical stories of justice and reconciliation around the globe.