I watched the Canadian mockumentary; Radiant City today. (It was a birthday present from my parents) The movie basically follows around a family that has recently moved into one of Calgary’s southernmost communities, trying to look at the ways life in the ‘burbs has affected each member of the family. Incidentally, you can see my house in one of the segments shot from a helicopter. Although the mother seems happy about the move, the children and husband seem much more reluctant to embrace their new home. The film is mixed in with some great interviews with authors, architects and urban planners (one of which is Andres Duany, whom I spoke of in an earlier post) that give a great insight into urban sprawl in North America. There are some equally interesting statistics that show how far we have gone in turning our once lively cities in gloomy race tracks, forcing us to drive for any and all of our transportation needs. Check out the this trailer, then check out the film.
I wrote a letter to the makers of this film, congradulating them on their great work. You can read my letter on the following page if you want:
Hello,
My name is Shawn Champagne and I have just finished watching your film « Radiant City ». I don’t normally write to filmmakers after watching a movie I enjoyed, but in this case I had to make an exception. I truly feel as if you made this film just for me. It was given to me as a present from my parents back home. I’m from Calgary (Somerset. You can actually see my house in one of the flyovers of the movie) and I am studying urban planning in the south of France, in Aix-en-Provence. I chose to study urban planning in Europe because I really just got sick of the way real estate developers have become the new planners in North America. There is no thought process put into the designing of cities anymore, simply cookie cutter homes in cookie cutter lots in cookie cutter “communities”.
While studying here, many of my French classmates ask me to describe what life is like back home and the kind of community I live in. As a response, I simply hop onto google maps, zoom onto my house and progressively zoom outwards to show that my house is lost in a sea of other houses that are exactly alike. I also show them how far I need to go to shop, go to school and meet up with friends. I find it odd when people here tell me how much they respect Canada and Canadians for their great efforts towards protecting our environment, when that is simply not the case. I have been living car-free in Europe for two years and I don’t miss having to drive around everywhere at all. Most of my friends here don’t have cars either. We simply have no need for them.
During your film you interviewed Ardres Duany, a proponent of “New Urbanism” and founder of DPZ, an urban planning firm from the states. I will be doing an internship this summer at the European affiliate of DPZ in Berlin, Germany. I look forward to working towards creating more urban density and maybe bringing some of the things I learn back home.
Keep up the great work and pass on my regards to all those involved in the making of your film,
Shawn Champagne
UPDATE; Here is the reply I received from the filmakers:
Hi Shawn,
Thanks so much for your note. I must admit to being envious of someone who can live car free – it’s really difficult here in Calgary, unless you spend all of your time trying to get around – doesn’t leave much time for anything else. We really enjoyed Andres Duany, I can imagine what a great experience working with an affiliate of theirs in Berlin will be fascinating. Best of luck with your studies and yes please bring some much needed sanity back here. I’ve passed your note on to Gary and Jim as well as the gang at the NFB.
Cheers, Shirley
