645 Wellington
Description
A stone's throw from downtown Montreal, quirky artists, blue-collar workers and unconventional families are being forced to leave their old neighbourhood as high-tech firms move in. Like in so many other cities, the tech companies arrive with the promise of a rosy future--but it's one built on demolitions, evictions and the conversion of low-rent property to high-priced condos. This is a portrait of one building and its residents--people like Constanzo 'Fartman' Manna, an eccentric shipper and packer who's headed for Chile to marry the love of his life and bring her back to Montreal; artist Luc Bourbonnais, who is fighting desperately to hold on to the loft that inspires so much of his art; and Cuban émigré Rolando Zambrano, who ran a neighborhood snack bar for nearly 30 years. Shot over a period of six months and set to a pulsing Latin and rock soundtrack, 645 Wellington not only opens a window onto the lives of the building's residents but brings the building itself to life. We come to know the dark hallways, the corners and the doorways. We get to know them well. Just as they are about to change, forever.
Runtime
54 min
Subjects
Geography
Genre
Date of Publication
2002
Database
Alexander Street
Direct Link
Similar Films
60 minutes. China's real estate bubble
Impact of higher rates on banks, home prices
PBS NewsHour
Sunday morning. Helping hands
Property ladder?
Is the U.S. housing market really improving?
Sunday morning. Get real
Housing recovery. More room to run?
Housing's one of the things we recommend. Bartels
Will the cost of mortgage credit rise?
Responsible citizenship and the American community
The Golden Beach
Decade of fire
Meeting the housing needs of the future
Kelly and Her Sisters Grow Up