Documentarian seeks Brick Works stories for film about site

Award-winning Canadian director Catherine Annau has been tapped to direct a documentary about the $55-million reclamation project whose aim is to build a national centre for urban sustainability at Toronto’s former Don Valley Brick Works.

The documentary is seeking individuals who have worked, walked, partied or are otherwise connected to the 125-year-old site to tell their stories in the film.

 “This film will focus on the personal stories of workers and families of workers, former German POW who worked there to graffiti artists and musicians who occupied the site for the last 15-20 years…we want to capture it all,” says Annau, whose credits include Just Watch Me: Trudeau and the 70’s Generation, and Kim Cattrall: Sexual Intelligence.

The film is part of a larger research project to document the history and cultural significance for educational purposes of the former Don Valley Brick Works. The factory supplied bricks to construct numerous buildings across Canada and North America, including Winnipeg’s T. Eaton Building, Toronto’s Massey Hall and Casa Loma Stables, Montreal’s Acadia Apartments and Moncton’s T. Eaton Building.

 “The Brick Works is a huge historic force in our city and we are seeking to document people’s stories about one of Canada’s preeminent brickyards,” says Geoff Cape, executive director of Evergreen. “These personal records will help Evergreen actively preserve the site’s unique industrial and cultural heritage.”

 Over the course of the next 12 months Annau will track Cape and Evergreen as they attempt to raise the final $12 million dollars needed to complete the reclamation.

 Evergreen Brick Works will model sustainable building technologies and strategies to combine nature and urban space and demonstrate best practices in green design. This is a unique and unprecedented urban development project in Canada and internationally.  Evergreen wants the public to be a part of telling the story of the historic Don Valley Brick Works.To share stories, please contact heritage@evergreen.ca or call (888) 426 3138 ext. 550.