A partnership with the Windsor International Film Festival couldn’t have come at a better time to engage residents in discussion about our collective future, says law professor Anneke Smit.

She is director of the Centre for Cities, which is sponsoring a screening of the documentary A Decent Home at the festival and will follow it with a question-and-answer session.

“The low voter turnout in last week’s municipal elections suggests that many people feel disengaged from politics, including local government,” Dr. Smit says. “Film provides the perfect entry point for conversations about the big topics facing our local communities.”

A Decent Home addresses issues of class and economic inequity through the lives of mobile home park residents who can’t afford housing anywhere else, says director Sara Terry.

“We need to question who on earth are we becoming as Americans when housing that is on the very lowest rung of the American dream is being bought up by the wealthiest of the wealthy seeking to make outrageous returns on their investments,” Terry says. “When are the rich rich enough? Whose dream are we serving?”

The screening is set for 3:20 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, in the Capitol Pentastar Theatre. Learn more on the festival website.

The Q&A to follow will discuss affordability and financialization of housing, tying the themes of the film to the Windsor-Essex region. Moderated by WIFF executive director and UWindsor associate vice-president external Vincent Georgie, panellists will include Fiona Coughlin, executive director of Habitat for Humanity Windsor-Essex, and Tori-Lee Jenkins, a staff lawyer with Legal Assistance of Windsor.