“Home ownership to me means freedom—strictly. The more and more I evaluate this world, the more and more I understand: when you don’t own anything, you are nothing.” That’s how Greg Butler, a young black house flipper, sums up his view of the American dream. From derelict inner-city Baltimore to abandoned suburban tracts in Southern California, ‘Owned’ exposes the realities of the modern American housing economy, challenging audiences to question the way we value homeownership and home itself. Through the stories of a retired New York City cop, an eccentric Orange County realtor and an aspiring real estate developer in Baltimore, ‘Owned’ explores the promise of postwar housing policies, the systematic oppression in America’s “Chocolate Cities” and the communities they have created. The film suggests that ultimately these communities have more in common than they might suspect.
