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Items left behind at a former homeless camp site off Burton Road in Ann Arbor on March 27, 2015.

(Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News)

There's a new documentary film about Ann Arbor's homeless community and the nonprofit group MISSION that supports the homeless.

The 37-minute film "The M.I.S.S.I.O.N." offers a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of local homeless residents, some of the challenges they face, and the work MISSION is doing to bring them together, foster relationships and build community.

The documentary, which was shot this past year by Viviana Pernot as part of her senior thesis in the University of Michigan's Stamps School of Art and Design, shows members of the homeless community at both highs and lows, including coming together for dinners on Sundays at the MISSION house on Stone School Road, and some tense conflicts and infighting.

MISSION President Sheri Wander, who is interviewed in the film, affectionately describes them as a big, dysfunctional family.

The documentary also chronicles the homeless community's battle with City Council Member Stephen Kunselman and their objections to Kunselman's public statements about wanting to crack down on homeless camps in the city.

It shows efforts by MISSION and the homeless to lobby the City Council to, among other things, make affordable housing a priority.

MISSION board members also discuss their vision for wanting to create a village of tiny houses on their property off Stone School Road.

The film features some archival footage of Camp Take Notice from Anthony Collings' short film, "Take Notice: A Camp for the Homeless." Camp Take Notice was a homeless camp that shifted to different locations around the Ann Arbor area before the state shut down its last official location off Wagner Road in 2012.

MISSION board member Caleb Poirier talks in the new film about being arrested by police during his Camp Take Notice days.

The film, which is dedicated to MISSION Vice President Jimmy Hill, takes an emotional turn toward the end, delving into Hill's battle with pancreatic cancer.

Pernot said she wanted to spend her senior year doing something that would make a difference in peoples' lives through documentary work. In the end, she calls the making of the documentary a life-changing experience.

"I had heard of Camp Take Notice from my professors and wanted to see what the community was like today," she said. "I contacted Peggy Lynch, who invited me to their weekly Sunday dinner and meeting. For the first couple of Sundays, I did not bring my camera. I wanted the community to get to know me, and trust me and the work I wanted to do with them. I spent two to three days a week from September to March with the MISSION community, getting to know the people and their stories.

"I tried my hardest to capture the fact that these are human beings like everyone else who need help," she said, expressing hope that it raises awareness.

Watch the entire film below:

Ryan Stanton covers the city beat for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com or 734-623-2529 or follow him on Twitter.