fourONEsixSTYLE

The Hot Docs festival kicked off in Toronto last Thursday with a moving documentary, Air India 182, bringing to life the stories of families touched by the worst act of terror Canadians have ever encountered.

After this opening weekend the festival buzz is heating up, giving high honours to Football Undercover, a film profiling a Muslim women’s soccer team, as well as Carny, a colourful doc that explores the strong and unusual bonds of one girl on the road.

Cuban Song could be given a miss I’m told. The documentary follows in the tracks of other Cuban docs that show how life and music mesh in Havana, however it lacks the depth and tone set by its cinematic predecessors. Tiger Spirit failed to engage audiences in the story of divided Koreans reuniting for the first time in decades, while Club Native hit home showing the difficult side of life for Mohawk Indians uniting with partners off their reserve. (Thanks for the tips & reviews John, Lana & Diego).

I’ve got my festival pass – 10 films for $90 – but have been caught up preparing for a BBC micro-session on how to approach research for forensics documentaries. I’ll be presenting a Cold Blood case study Wednesday at 2:30PM - those with an industry pass are welcome to swing by and see what you can learn about the field of archive and visual research from our experienced panel.

I love seeing how Toronto Fashion Week evolves each season. Just looking through the schedule of events one can see the list of contributors is growing and morphing from a few fan favourites - Denis Gagnon, Andy The-Anh, Pink Tartan and Greta Constatine - to a sophisticated roster of Canadian talent. I’ll miss Izzy Camilleri this year but am excited by some fresh scene-stylers. Keep your eyes peeled for designs by Nadya Toto, Mellinda-Mae Harlingten and Tatsuaki. Newcomers Evan Biddell and Carlie Wong of Project Runway will have a chance to impress next week, while Russian designer Max Chernitsov brings some international flare to Toronto.

image by Toronto Street.

Taking a page from NYC’s Fashion Week, celebrated in midtown’s Bryant Park, Toronto’s week of runway shows is also back in a prime pedestrian intersection, Nathan Philips Square. I’ve been around for the Liberty Grand shows and Muzik too but this venue excites me a bit more. Likely it’s because the best fashion I see in Toronto is on the streets, where style is most exposed. It’s also where, rubbing shoulders with strangers all day long, fashion plays the biggest part in your identity, you can play it up or play it down, be anyone you feel, swathed in the sweet cloak of anonymity.

L’Oreal Fashion Week begins its showing of fall collections for 2008 on March 17th.

Though the causes of autism cannot be definitively pinpointed, it has become apparent that cases of autism have increased dramatically since the 1980’s. It wasn’t until a couple of summer’s ago that I’d met someone with this brain development condition. At first he seemed odd, sociable, but unable to make eye contact. Then, his fixations with unusual things like highway rumble strips and recording everything from voices to generator noises, made him more curious to me and my friends who interacted with him. Now, what defines him most is his fascination with the play Evil Dead: The Musical. He’ll ask everyone he meets whether they’ve seen it and what they think of it. He’s gone so far as to get some of the cast members’ t-shirts, covered in fake blood, and wear them out to parties. No doubt dressing up for Halloween is his favorite time of year.

Since I really know very little about people with Autism, I’m hoping that this week’s Doc Soup screening “Autism: The Musical” will shed some light on the associated personality traits, not only the repetitive and extremely intelligent aspects of the neurological encumbrance we’ve come to know from Rain Man, but also how a focus on creative expression can help those with Autism. It’s fascinating, when you know that most of us only use 5% of our brain’s capacity, that there may be a key there in understanding this different wiring that might help us all evolve a little further.

Screenings are at 6:30 and 9:15 this Wednesday the 5th. Tickets are currently available online for the later show. You’ll have to take your chances to get into the early one.

Less than a week after a tenacious fire tore through Queen West, Preloved is back in business. As of tomorrow a temporary store will open at 24 Ryerson Ave, in the basement suite, to showcase the spring styles that fortunately survived the blaze. Opening hours are Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 12-6pm.

Recently I visited the (now destroyed) store on Queen to take some pictures and ended up walking away with a refurbished blazer. The price tag was high - about $150 - but I knew I was going to have a one of a kind piece in my wardrobe. It’s what Preloved does best.

Queen St Fire
Originally uploaded by taxing

Flickr might be the top place to dig up photos of the six-alarm scorcher that tore though several historic Queen West buildings this morning.

The photo here by taxing is one of the best I’ve found from the early morning. If you’re filled with intrigue too check some other flickites’ sites like JL 1967, Johnny Mad or xarq.

Word is that firefighters have now gained control of the inferno though smoke continues to spread for several blocks. I can still taste it despite being over four blocks away. Riders beware - subways have been experiencing issues with lack of air circulation as well.

A fire that broke out this morning at 5AM continues to burn on Queen Street West at Portland between Spadina and Bathurst. All residents were evacuated and no one was injured but damage to this historic stretch has spead to at least 15 businessess including Duke’s Cycle, Suspect Video, a headshop and pizza place. It is so bad these buildings can not likely be salvaged. Firefighters, who are still working hard to contain the blaze, revealled that there is some explosive material within one of the buildings but will not comment on what that material might be. Surrounding streets are closed to traffic.

Photo by aardvark.

Update: More photos available through fourONEsixSTYLE.

gondry
Originally uploaded by 416style

I messed up previously laid plans when I was offered preview passes to Mos Def and Jack Black’s new flick Be Kind Rewind. The clincher was the Q&A with director Michel Gondry. Gondry’s well-known in film for directing The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind but it’s his unique style directing music videos for the White Stripes and Bjork that gets my attention. Bad news is I got to the screening (right on time) and all the seats were filled (yeah, apparently there’s a disclaimer you’re supposed to read) so my friends and I had to change course. We headed to Caren’s Wine Bar across the street (158 Cumberland) since I’d heard they had some swish mac and cheese and a tasty fondue too.

We sunk into our seats upstairs and I noticed that Richard Crouse, the easily recognizable host of Rogers Television’s Reel to Real, was seated near to us. Hmmm…I wonder who he’s dining with in Yorkville. Sure enough it’s Michel Gondry, having a glass of red before ducking into the theatre to begin a round of questioning.

I wanted to give him my two cents too, tell him that my photo of him is used in his wikipedia profile, but best we could do was “So you couldn’t get into the movie either?” He seemed rushed and faked a laugh, but he seemed to be doing that a dinner with his guests too. Solemn and reserved; not at all what I’d expect. Shouldn’t you be a people person as an accomplished director? Maybe not. This is the guy, after all, that developed what’s now called “the bullet technique”, made famous by The Matrix. Oh well, I guess he’s a technical guy. I can appreciate that.

We missed our chance with him and we missed the Q&A, instead we sat at Caren’s waiting forever for food and drinks to have overly formal staff bring us overly mediocre food. (And, hey, shouldn’t you have a decent selection of wines if you want to call yourself a wine bar?)

Besides good company the night was a bust - but hey, I did get another movie pass, to try and get into the movie another time.