Homelessness is a worldwide problem. You can find plenty of articles and videos on the topic. The challenge: how can you keep the homeless issue alive so that people pay attention? The title of this post reveals the answer. Instead of reporting on homeless people from the outside, UK-based director and producer Giulia Gandini created Home Stream, an online documentary mini-series, which  enables homeless people to speak for themselves. The first episode is “A Homeless Woman Was Given an iPhone to Share Her Experience.” Gandini provided Lily—a homeless woman—with video training, and then gave her an iPhone for a three-day shoot. Lily, who received a director’s credit, captured her life in the portrait orientation. While there are disadvantages in shooting vertically, the approach works in a movie that is as much a portrait of the artist as it is the world she inhabits.

“A Homeless Woman Was Given an iPhone to Share Her Experience” was screened at We The Peoples Film Festival 2019 at The Cinema Museum (London). It was also nominated for the Best Short Mobile Film award at 20 Min Max International Film Festival (Ingolstadt Germany) and was an Official Selection at Mobile Motion Film Festival 2020 (Zurich Switzerland).

The project is supported by BFI Future Film, UNA Westminster, We The Peoples Film Festival, Gorilla Gorilla! Productions, Be Inspired Films, and Creative Conscience.

The series producer Giulia Gandini also co-directs the episodes, which are distributed by Real Stories.

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The editors of MobileMovieMaking have chosen “A Homeless Woman Was Given an iPhone to Share Her Experience” as the Mobile Movie of the Week.