Three residents of the Mission District of San Francisco: Polo Gonzalez, Sarah Brendt, and Rio Yañez share their stories of eviction. They are lifelong San Franciscans, respectively, a cafe manager, a public school teacher, and an artist. In their narratives they also represent their elders: Ana Gutierrez (Polo’s senior mom), Mary Phillips (Sarah’s 98 year old neighbor), and Rene Yañez and Yolanda Lopez (Rio’s parents and legendary Mission artists). All of them are being Ellis Act evicted from their homes. This short documentary also includes an opening prayer by Catherine Herrera (Ohlone descendant and artist), and a closing prayer by Roberto Hernandez (Mission community organizer and protector of ancestry.) Song "La Mission" by ©2014 Ramon Garcia, Mission born and raised musician.
The original footage was captured on January 17, 2014 as part of a storytelling circle called "Campfire: Eviction Ghost Stories and Other Housing Horrors." This mini-clip is part of a series of mini-clips honoring fourteen City storytellers who shared their eviction horror stories that evening around the fire.
Related event details: "Campfire: Eviction Ghost Stories and Other Housing Horrors, " Silverstone Cafe at (24th Street near Mission Street), 1/17/2014, 6 -9 p.m., co-hosted by Adriana Camarena with the project Unsettlers: Migrants, Homies, and Mammas in the Mission District (unsettlers.org), and Erin McElroy with the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project (antievictionmappingproject.net.)
This work was partially funded with a CalHumanities Community Stories Grant and a grant from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation.
