Under a Million Stars

USA | 2026 | 77 min. | Chezik Tsunoda

Experts and homeless neighbors alike bust myths about Seattle’s homelessness crisis in a deeply reported, humanistic dispatch from the front lines.

Director Chezik Tsunoda scheduled to attend.

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Saturday, May 9, 2026

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  • Matinee

Sunday, May 10, 2026

  • Limited Availability
  • On Standby
  • Matinee

Homelessness was declared a civil state of emergency in Seattle in 2015. Since then, the number of people sleeping outside has actually risen by more than 67 percent. Chezik Tsunoda's documentary Under a Million Stars, which received the Satterberg Foundation's Courageous Documentary Filmmaking Grant, is a deeply reported yet humanistic dispatch from the front lines of this crisis. Armed with facts and empathy, the film busts pernicious and all-too-common myths about homelessness.

Tsunoda amplifies the voices of researchers, activists, elected officials, and, most critically, homeless people speaking for themselves. Through this tapestry of perspectives, Under a Million Stars probes the roots of the homelessness crisis and examines promising solutions. The film ultimately exposes how homelessness stems from systemic failures: our systems of care, choked with red tape, have failed the homeless, while a dysfunctional housing market has displaced low-income residents. As Gregg Colburn, author of the influential treatise Homelessness is a Housing Problem, sums it up, "Homelessness thrives in affluence, not poverty." Under a Million Stars is a damning indictment, a call to action, and a course-corrective to our discourse around homelessness.

Alison Jean Smith

  • Director: Chezik Tsunoda
  • Principal Cast: Tye Reed, David Delgado, Danny, Star
  • Premiere Status: World
  • Country: USA
  • Year: 2026
  • Running Time: 77 min.
  • Producer: Gilad Thaler
  • Screenplay: Patrick Mannion, Gilad Thaler, Chezik Tsunoda
  • Cinematographers: Paul Mailman, John Miller
  • Editors: Patrick Mannion
  • Music: RZA
  • Website: Official Film Website
  • Filmography: Drowning in Silence (2022)
  • Language: English

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