Tickets: $18 online | $20 at the door
This is a third party event organized by Manual Focus Productions. The content of this screening/event is the sole responsibility of the organizer.
This special screening will show More than a Beach (21 min) and The City Island (74 min), both about protecting Toronto’s public spaces from unbridled development. This screening is intended to dispute the recent appropriation of the Toronto Islands for possible airport expansion, and the Toronto District School Board from the ongoing sale of schools and their land.
The City Island is a feature documentary about the Toronto Islands, weaving its volatile political history and ongoing issues with flooding, with stories from its memorable residents. It tells the history of the razing of Manitou Road, saving homes on Ward's Island, and the Lakeside Home for Little Children. More than 600 residents and millions of annual visitors make Toronto Island one of the most vibrant and unique parklands in the world.
The City Island trailer here.
More than a Beach is a twenty-one minute documentary about how an urban, empty lot became a fictionalized beach during the pandemic for Shari Kasman’s Bloordale Beach Tours in west end Toronto. Over 15 months during the pandemic, countless people contributed signage, furniture, sculpture, artwork, and performance pieces to this ad hoc UNESCO World Heritage site.
All of them were contributed anonymously.
More than a Beach was nominated for a 2025 Heritage Toronto Award for Public Spaces.
The City Island (74 min)
Producer/Director/Executive Producer: Elizabeth Littlejohn
Editor: Dennis Day
Principal Cinematographers: Elizabeth Littlejohn + Allan Lissner
Music: Phil Strong and Julia Kent
Archival Research and Acquisitions: Kathleen Doody
Generously supported by the Canada Council of the Arts
© Manual Focus Productions 2022
More than a Beach (21 min)
Producer, Director and Cinematographer: Elizabeth Littlejohn
Editor: Dennis Day
Concept and Tour Guide: Shari Kasman
Participants:
- Shari Kasman
- Erella Ganon
- Martin Reis
- Zachary Davis
- Laura Lebel-Pantazopoulos
- Abby Forero-Hilty
- Anonymous Contributors
© Manual Focus Productions 2024