Short Film

Directed by: Christine Swanson

About Basement People:  Seven-year-old Tina is left in the care of her extended family after a traumatic event exposes the fault lines of a volatile household. Sensitive and emotionally fragile, she navigates a home ruled by control, neglect, and barely contained rage. As tensions escalate into violence, Tina retreats into the basement, seeking refuge from the chaos above.

There, she finds an unlikely sanctuary with her reclusive uncle Keith, a man the family has long dismissed as unstable and unfit for the world upstairs. In the quiet isolation of the basement, Tina experiences something she has been denied throughout the house: safety without judgment. As the family struggles to restore order aboveground, Tina must decide where she truly belongs.

Basement People is an intimate portrait of childhood sensitivity, inherited trauma, and the unexpected places where protection and belonging can be found.