Director Chezik Tsunoda explores the many faces of Seattle homelessness in UNDER A MILLION STARS

Set in Seattle, Under A Million Stars follows two people navigating homelessness and housing instability as they confront daily survival, broken systems, and fragile hope. Through intimate storytelling and community voices, the film challenges the narrative that homelessness is a personal failure, revealing instead the structural forces that push people to the margins.

It will have its World Premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival on May 9th and 10th.

Under A Million Stars challenges the dominant narrative around homelessness by revealing how systemic failures, not individual choices, have created one of America’s most urgent crises. Set in Seattle, home to one of the largest unhoused populations in the United States, the film follows two individuals navigating life at the edge of stability.

Danny, a senior who has lived outside for years, exists in a complicated space between longing for housing and valuing the freedom he finds when he is outdoors. he struggles with overcrowded shelters and unstable temporary systems. His story reflects the nuance often erased in public debates about homelessness.

Star, a young mother fighting to rebuild her life after addiction, trafficking, domestic violence, and the loss of her child, is newly housed but living on fragile ground. Her journey exposes the relentless obstacles faced by women, particularly women of color, trying to navigate systems not designed for their survival.

Through their lives, Under A Million Stars reveals the human consequences of policy decisions, housing shortages, and decades of disinvestment. The film also explores the broader political landscape shaping the crisis from encampment sweeps that displace thousands each year to the grassroots organizations fighting for housing as a human right.
By weaving together intimate character-driven storytelling, expert insight, and historical context, the documentary reframes homelessness not as an individual failure but as a predictable outcome of systemic neglect.

Ultimately, Under A Million Stars invites viewers to reconsider what it means to belong to a community and what responsibility we share for the people living within it.

Get your tickets for the World Premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival!

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