Single Residence Occupancy, directed by Omer Ben-Shachar, is an award-winning short that was part of Film Independent’s 2025 Project Involve program and graded by Picture Shop Senior Colorist Frederik Bokkenheuser. It has been named a Vimeo Staff Pick, Short of the Week, won the Academy Award-Qualifying Jury Award for Best Narrative Short at the Atlanta Film Festival and was named the first place winner of Imagine Entertainment, Adobe and The Film Zone’s From Minutes to Movies ShortFest competition.
Written by Belinda Huijuan Tang, the story is based on real-life accounts of Chinese families living in single-room-occupancy, tight-quarters apartments. “The emotional core of it is what brought the team together,” says Ben-Shachar. “That authenticity carried through every creative decision, from shooting inside a real SRO-sized space to framing the film in 4:3 and reserving a single wide shot for the final moment; choices designed to mirror the protagonist’s internal shift in perspective.”
Working from references drawn from photographs of families living in SRO apartments in San Francisco’s Chinatown and the movie Fish Tank, Ben-Shachar and cinematographer Wenting Deng Fisher collaborated with Bokkenheuser in the color bay to further ground the story visually. “Freddie is incredible,” Ben Shachar shares. “He elevated the look, helped create a 16mm feel, and brought such generosity and enthusiasm to the process. I’ve worked with him on several projects since. I’ve definitely found a collaborator for life.”
Picture Shop is proud to sponsor Film Independent’s Project Involve each year and to provide color grading for the program’s short films, supporting emerging voices and bold storytelling. Congratulations to Omer Ben-Shachar and the entire Single Residence Occupancy team on the film’s continued success.
Learn more about the film at omerbenshachar.com/single-residence-occupancy