Remember the time a group of artists built a secret apartment inside the Providence Place mall and lived there (rent-free) for parts of four years?
Their story is about to make the big screen.
On March 8, South by Southwest will show the world premiere of âSecret Mall Apartment,â a documentary on the project that captured attention across the globe after Michael Townsend and his friends were caught by mall security in 2007. (Townsend was banned for life from the mall. Talk about a soul-crushing penalty ⦠if he had been a 13-year-old.)
It turns out that the artists filmed the entire experience, and now their story is going to be shared with the world. It sounds like weâll finally get to learn how they smuggled two tons of cinderblocks into the mall without getting caught, according to a description of the film.
The story has been told in parts and bits over the past 17 years, most notably in a 2018 podcast and a detailed story in Londonâs Daily Mirror. But a featured documentary at South by Southwest will likely bring a new level of attention to Townsend and the other artists.
âSecret Mall Apartmentâ is directed by Jeremy Workman, and one of its executive producers is Jesse Eisenberg, who would play a great Townsend if they ever decided to make a motion picture out of the story.
This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If youâd like to receive it via email Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.
Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him @danmcgowan.