Calgary filmmaker Gary Burns recently peered into the heart of Canadian suburbia, dissecting the cultural, social, and geographical heart of big-city sprawl. His resulting documentary, Radiant City, is an investigation into urban planning, and was one of the most popular Canadian nonfiction films released in the past few years. On Monday, December 3, Burns will bring Radiant City to The Banff Centre for a special screening as part of the Walter Phillips Gallery’s Reel Time film series. After the screening, he and University of Calgary architecture professor Graham Livesey will present a discussion about the film, and the impact of its themes on Canadian cities. The event will be followed by a reception.
Set to a soundtrack featuring songs by the Pixies’ Joey Santiago, Radiant City delves into insight by experts including Jane Jacobs and James Howard Kunstler, author of The Geography of Nowhere. It looks at suburban sprawl through the eyes of zoned-out edge-city dwellers Evan and Ann Moss and their kids, and rails against the levelling of everything to support an endless grid of soul-less monoculture, reflecting on what happens to cities when they “get sick and mutate.”
Joining the discussion after the screening, writer-director Gary Burns is an auteur of the ordinary and eccentric details that make up life in western Canadian cities. His first feature, The Suburbanators, premiered at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival, and he’s since gone on to grab Festival audiences and critics with films including Kitchen Party and Waydowntown. Graham Livesey has been with the University of Calgary since 1991, first as an instructor in the environmental design department, then as director of the architecture program. During much of that time, he was also principal of Down + Livesey Architects. Author of two books on architecture, he is currently researching contemporary urban design theory and modern architecture, with a focus on 20th century urban green spaces.
This event is generously sponsored by the Bison Mountain Bistro, Tracker Productions, and Ski Big 3.
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