Bums' Paradise

"Spreading into the San Francisco Bay, this landfill stands as a brooding monument to obsolescence. What could be more appropriate refuge for America's unused people?" —Robert"Rabbit"Barringer Host and Narrator of Bums'Paradise On a peninsular landfill in the San Francisco Bay, an encampment of homeless made a refuge. For nearly ten years they lived there, outside the "American Dream;" in return creating an alternative society of their own. Bums’ Paradise depicts the lives of the indigent people who lived in the Albany Landfill encampment prior to, during and after their eviction. The film emphasizes their concepts of community as well as the amazing art that they created while squatting the abandoned dump. The filmmakers encouraged Bum’s Paradise to become a story of survival as told by the veterans of the streets themselves, "Rabbit", one of the Landfill’s own provides the narration, and shot some of the footage. Bums’ Paradise is a poignant reminder of what we lose when we close our eyes to the human face of homelessness. People who are treated in our society more like shadows than those with flesh and bones. As the story unravels, viewers get to understand homeless people not just as faceless everyday panhandlers and dumpster divers, but talented humans who while being plagued by their addictions and mental illnesses remain hopeful and inspired by the world around them.