Single Residence Occupancy
2024 · 10m · USA
Directed by Omer Ben-Shachar
Genres: drama
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, provocative, tender
A Chinese immigrant mother living in a cramped Single Room Occupancy apartment in San Francisco learns her family's application for better housing has been denied, and struggles with how to break the devastating news to her two children.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
4:3 in a real SRO with a single wide reserved for the climax — that's deliberate spatial storytelling I respect. Festival-favorite immigrant family drama, but the formal discipline is real.
Shooting at real SRO scale in 4:3 with a single wide shot held for the climax is the kind of disciplined formal decision Sean Baker has built a career on. The Atlanta Film Festival Jury Award confirms what the description already suggests — a film that uses constraint as language.
Shot in a real SRO-sized space in 4:3 with one wide shot reserved for the climax — that's a discipline most filmmakers don't have, treating aspect ratio and framing as a narrative reveal. 9:47, 100K views, Best Narrative Short at Atlanta — the craft choice paid off.
Reviews
Through the subtle performance of Kathy Wu, the film communicates the deeper emotional layers of the story. With very few lines, she conveys the exhaustion, disappointment and weight of responsibility she carries.
A tender portrayal of everyday moments rendered with uncommon sensitivity, grounded in real reportage about immigrant families living in single-room occupancies.
Festivals
- Atlanta Film Festival 2025, Jury Award, Best Narrative Short
- From Minutes to Movies ShortFest 2024, First Place Winner
- CAAMFest 2025
- Woodstock Film Festival 2025
- Asian American International Film Festival 2025