The Price of Cheap Rent
2020 · 7m · USA
Directed by Amina Sutton, Maya Tanaka
Genres: comedy, dark comedy, documentary
Tones: darkly comic, humorous, whimsical
A young Black college graduate moves to Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, hunting for cheap rent in a gentrifying city — and discovers her suspiciously affordable studio apartment is haunted by the ghosts of former residents displaced by gentrification. Shot as a mockumentary blending vlog-style footage with documentary aesthetics, the film uses supernatural comedy to skewer housing inequality and gentrification.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Mockumentary about gentrification ghosts haunting a Bed-Stuy apartment with Wyatt Cenac — sharper conceit than 'haunted house metaphor' deserves to be, and short enough not to wear out. Curious.
Gentrification ghosts as literal Bed-Stuy displacement metaphor — Sutton and Tanaka land their satire in roughly seven minutes, and the conceit's clarity is its strength. Sharp and economical.
Six and a half minutes blending vlog-style footage with mockumentary aesthetics to make displaced Bed-Stuy ghosts a pointed gentrification metaphor — that documentary-comedy hybrid form matches the satirical content. Sorry to Bother You comparison is reaching but the conceit is real.
Reviews
Skillfully mixing various genre elements, Sutton and Tanaka create an engaging look at the impact of gentrification on communities.
The film features impeccable writing and delivery, blending humor and intelligence on gentrification, race, and artistic struggle.
Festivals
- Toronto International Film Festival 2020
- Urbanworld Film Festival 2020
- BlackStar Film Festival 2021
- Aspen ShortsFest 2021
- Chicago International Film Festival 2020
- HollyShorts Film Festival 2020
- Rooftop Films 2020
- TIDE Film Festival 2020, NYWIFT x TIDE Female Director Award
- Indy Shorts International Film Festival 2020, People's Choice