From May 10-12, young movie lovers will take over the TIFF Bell Lightbox for Next Wave, a film festival programmed for and partly curated by cinema lovers ages 14-18. One film screening that may be of interest to Spacing readers is This Space Available, a fascinating look at the social, political, and economic factors that combine to make illegal billboard advertising as profitable and easy as it is. In This Space Available, viewers travel from sewers of Brazil, to Sunset Strip (“What did God make first: billboards or LA?”), to our very ...

In 1930, Detroit was the fastest growing city in the world. According to the 2010 census, its population has now dropped back to 1910 levels, and the equivalent of Manhattan, San Francisco and Boston could fit into the empty land  within city boundaries. What has this shift meant for Detroiters? In Heidi Elwig and Rachel Grady's Detropia, autoworkers, small business owners, bloggers, and politician reflect on what population, employment, and demographic shifts have meant for the city they love. Where is Detroit headed, and what are the implications ...

Tchoupitoulas is about what happens in a city at night: its quirks, its personalities, its sounds. It’s about what happens in New Orleans specifically, a pretty good place to explore these variables. But the excitement of the night in Tchoupitoulas is magnified by the fact that it is mostly viewed through the eyes of three young brothers who, along with their faithful pup Buttercup, have taken the ferry across from Algiers in search of adventure.  The fairly well-played out Bourbon Street nightlife (drunks, preachers, exotic dancers) is suddenly seen from a new angle – literally slightly below our eye level, and with a curiosity and excitement that can be hard for an adult to conjure, but that’s surprisingly easy to fall in with. When an evangelist speaks to the chatty, thoughtful youngest of the treasures awaiting us in heaven, there is a genuine pause for consideration. But with the loot of a street parade falling from the sky, the bare backsides in the windows, and the never-ending soundtrack of street bands and drunk revelers, it’s not hard to feel like you’re already.

Herman’s House follows the friendship and working relationship of artist and activist Jackie Summell and Herman Wallace, a Louisiana prisoner who had been in solitary confinement for more than 30 years. The architecture of Wallace’s existence—6 feet by 9 feet—are horrifying to Jackie, and she begins working with Herman to articulate, and then visualize, the dimensions of his dream home. Their deep, respectful friendship is filmed over five years as Jackie mounts and tours with “Herman’s House,” an exhibit contrasting Herman’s day-to-day reality with a scale model of his own design. At a certain point, the exhibit is deemed insufficient, and Jackie and Herman decide she should buy a plot of land and build his house while he awaits parole.

  In Girls Fall Down, “bodies in space” is one of the main character’s frequent refrains. As a medical photographer, Alex is often charged with documenting horrific injuries. “Just bodies in space,” he reminds himself. What kinds of bodies are allowed in which spaces is a central theme of Girls Fall Down. Last Thursday, author Maggie Helwig was joined by Anglican Archbishop Colin Johnson to discuss the politics of bodies in the novel, and beyond, in a talk entitled “Occupying the Page: Literature, Public Space, and Social Justice.” The discussion, held at Toronto Public Library’s Beaches branch, is part of the Keep Toronto Reading Festival. When the novel opens, Alex has seen a girl collapse on the Yonge subway, vomiting, claiming she’s been poisoned. While most of the passengers on the train look the other way, Alex steps forward, curious. The train empties out, the hazmat squad is called, suspicion and fear spread through the city. Soon other girls are falling down, claiming they have been poisoned, rashes on their faces. Subways are suddenly too public, a dangerous meeting place. Masks are worn, and no one will look each other in the eye.

It's almost Hot Docs season again, and there's a whole fleet of films we're looking forward to. This year's Hot Docs festival runs from April 26-May 6, and will feature hundreds of full-length and short documentaries from around the world. In the coming weeks, we'll be reviewing a number of films that we think might be of interest to Spacing readers. In the meantime, the box office is open! Here are some suggested picks: Black Block "They went to Genoa for the 2001 G8 Summit to be heard, to complain, to disrupt, to demonstrate. But they got too close, bothering those in power to the point of violent confrontation. A group of protesters relive their painful experiences at the Diaz School, a crash pad used during the Summit that became the scene of a savage raid by local police." Detropia "Once a place symbolic of the American Dream, Detroit has been hard hit by the economic downturn. Detroit natives would say “downturn” is an understatement; they’re facing all-out depression. The Academy Award-nominated duo Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady create an indelible postmodern portrait of a city disappearing. Focusing not on the past, but illustrating the current reality, Detropia is a symphony for a city in a precarious state of transition." (Spacing will be co-presenting this screening.) Dylan "Fourteen-year-old Dylan trolls the streets of Belfast in an oversized army jacket, smoking cigarettes, looking for something to do, ready to change his religion to heavy metal. He’s a one-man army, prepared for a battle that may already be lost. Here’s a portrait of a boy on the cusp of adolescence against the backdrop of a desolate city that has little to offer for a bright future."

Every April, the Toronto Public Library celebrates the city's thriving literary culture with the Keep Toronto Reading festival. Once again, Spacing is delighted to partner with TPL for KTR's city-wide book club, One Book. This year's book, Girls Fall Down, is a story in which the Toronto cityscape plays a starring role, and we're particularly excited about the many related events happening all month: walking tours that follow ...

Buried waterways are the stuff of creepy urban legends, but in Toronto photographer Jeremy Kai’s new book, a surprisingly beautiful underworld is exposed. While some scenes have a post-apocalyptic air, more well-lit passages look right out of Indian Jones (before the temple collapsed!). Kai, an OCAD graduate with an interest in urban watershed, makes frequent appearances, a ghostly apparition with a defiant stance. Rivers Forgotten will launch at the Holy Oak Cafe tomorrow (Wednesday) at 7:30. More of Kai's work, and more details on the party, can be found at ...

In 2007, Gary Hustwit’s Helvetica used a popular font to change the way many of us thought about design. 2009’s Objectified stepped back a bit, taking the shaping of everyday items as its focus. For the finale of his Design trilogy, Hustwit widens his lens further, this time examining the way we build, live in, and think about cities. For some, watching Urbanized, will be a soothing balm. For other, more senstitive Torontonians, it may result in jealous fury. Listen to the former mayor of Bogota wax ...

Foreign Parts has the aura of a Discovery Channel special: the audience’s job is to watch and learn. The tone and pace of the film make it feel like an introduction to another world: a schleppy, quirky, charming world. And unless you knew it was there, hidden behind the Mets stadium, you might think Willets Point, Queens, was another world. Here auto shop hustlers and savvy drivers argue, compare, barter and fix. The road (a generous use of the word) is covered in deep potholes, dogs run loose, ...