A 12-year-old boy defies his parents' alcohol abuse and finds glimmers of hope in an unexpected tragedy, in a heartbreaking film from the desperate flip side of America.

You never really know if it’s day or night in ‘Flophouse America’. Here we meet 12-year-old Mikal, a bright boy in a difficult situation. He lives with his mom and dad in a cheap hotel – a ‘flophouse’ – which, in a time of radical inequality, is both a home and a state of being for vulnerable people on the margins of American society. His parents drink, and although they love their son, they live in a chaos of drinking and desperate poverty. A heartbreaking tragedy becomes a final turning point for Mikal and his father.

Director Monica Strømdahl is a photographer by profession, and she captures the pain and the fragile hope in the family’s life with formidable precision. Strømdahl had been traveling around the US for 15 years as a photographer documenting life on the margins when she met Mikal and his parents, and replaced her camera with a film camera.

Three years of footage has turned into an unflinching and unforgettable film, which – now that Mikal has turned 18 and has approved it – is ready to create change for the vulnerable children around the world to whom it is dedicated.

PRODUCER Beathe Hofseth and Siri Natvik
DOP Monica Strømdahl
EDITOR Siv Lamark NFF
COMPOSER Andreas Ihlebæk, Marius Troy
SOUND DESIGN & MIX Mark Glynne & Olmo van Straalen
GRAPHICS & POSTER Sander Brouwer & Jane Bergkotte
TRAILER, The Pastry Shop, Leon Noordzij
COPRODUCER Eline van Wees, Basalt Film

Distributor Benelux Cinema Delicatessen, Daan Vermeulen, Maddi Dethlefsen, Rudolf Kats, Yosha Margherita

Supported by
The Norwegian Film Institute
The Netherlands Film Fund
Viken Filmsenter

Fritt Ord Foundation
Arts Council Norway
Norwegian Union of Journalists

In association with
Doc NYC
Hot Docs
Doc Norway
Mirage
Eurodoc
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