There's No Place Like This Place, Anyplace (2020)

Directed by

Lulu Wei

Genre

documentary

Country

Canada

Runtime

1h 16m

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A documentary about a historic department store in Toronto being torn down and rebuilt. It follows local residents and shop owners as they deal with losing their homes and businesses to new development.

observationalintimatebittersweetgroundedthoughtfulunhurriedneighborhood-focusedpersonal

What happens

There's No Place Like This Place, Anyplace is a 2020 Canadian documentary film, directed by Lulu Wei. The film profiles the issue of gentrification in Toronto, Ontario through the history, demolition and redevelopment of the historic Honest Ed's department store and its effects on the larger Mirvish Village neighbourhood. Stories woven through the film include those of Wei and their partner as they navigate the process of looking for a new place to live after being "renovicted" from their current Mirvish Village apartment; Itah Sadu, the owner of the city's Black Canadian specialty bookstore A Different Booklist, as she lobbies to secure a space for her store in the new development; an artist and gallery owner who takes the loss of his existing location as an opportunity to retire from the business rather than attempting to relocate; and the efforts of anti-poverty activists and city councillor Mike Layton to secure a larger affordable housing component in the new development. The film premiered as part of the 2020 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, it was not screened theatrically, but premiered as part of the festival's online streaming component. An abbreviated edition of the film was broadcast by CBC Television as an episode of CBC Docs POV in October 2020. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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