They say you can’t really go home again. And, as generations pass, we can see why?
Directed by Ali Weinstein, Your Tomorrow takes pause to celebrate the land that once was Ontario Place. Opening in 1971, the space was once a bastion of light in the Toronto community. Since then, it has been celebrated for its historic buildings, even if years of neglect see them crumbling. At a time when the Ontario provincial government weighs its option about what to do with the still-vibrant green space, Tomorrow looks back on what could be lost if we only think about the future.
Without question, Your Tomorrow is a beautiful portrait of an Ontario legacy. The film offers no direct commentary or statistics. Instead, Weinstein simply allows the people it affects tell their own story. Old footage shares the lives of families who used Ontario Place as a place to learn and rest together. For many families, it was a way to entertain their children while still feeling like you were ‘getting out of the city’, even in its very heart. Meanwhile, conversations with staff show the legacy that the space held in the community as a centerpiece of the ‘interconnectedness of people, planet and technology’. This was a space where the world’s first permanent IMAX theatre was balanced with a love of the natural world.
In essence, there were spaces that felt like the purity for the past. But, in other corners, it seemed like it was stepping towards the future.
But what’s most interesting in the ways that different generations view the space today. For adults, it’s a place of historic importance. But, for younger people, Ontario Place is just a place that was. It’s a space for summer employment that can easily be replaced. (“We might not be here so you might as well try McDonald’s first,” we hear.) In doing so, Tomorrow walks the fine line between nostalgia and progress. With change on the horizon, Ontario Place has to potential to disappear in the minds of future generations. As such, Your Tomorrow feels like a historical document; an opportunity to preserve a piece of our province that is threatened by redevelopment. But, in so doing, it’s also an opportunity to lean into the future, reconsidering what’s most important about city spaces and what they mean to the community at large as well.
Your Tomorrow is playing in select theatres on Friday, December 6th, 2024.
