"Flophouse America is the unnervingly intimate feature debut of Monica Strømdahl, an internationally award-winning photographer who spent 15 years documenting the impoverished communities that have sprung up in rundown motels throughout the US. Which is how she met Mikal, an energetic, 11-year old boy who's called home the hotel room he's shared with his parents since the day he was born."
"Thus began a three-year cinematic collaboration, shot almost entirely in the aforementioned home, between the Norwegian director and the marginalized trio she captures through her quietly unwavering lens. allowed her, and now us, to serve as a silent witness to one family's troubling struggles with poverty and addiction - and also their touching devotion to one another, their unconditional love above all."
Flophouse America follows an 11-year-old boy named Mikal and his parents who live in a single motel room that has been their home since his birth. The project grew from 15 years of photography into a three-year cinematic collaboration filmed almost entirely in that room, observing daily life with quiet intimacy. The film records the family's struggles with poverty and addiction alongside moments of care, resilience, and unconditional love. Mikal is portrayed as both school-smart and street-smart, with hope that he might break a generational cycle. The film premiered at DOC NYC and earned festival recognition, including a DOX:AWARD Special Mention and a Cinema Eye Honors Spotlight nomination.
Read at Filmmaker Magazine
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