From May 10-12, young movie lovers will take over the TIFF Bell Lightbox for Next Wave, a film festival programmed for and partly curated by cinema lovers ages 14-18.
One film screening that may be of interest to Spacing readers is This Space Available, a fascinating look at the social, political, and economic factors that combine to make illegal billboard advertising as profitable and easy as it is.
In This Space Available, viewers travel from sewers of Brazil, to Sunset Strip (“What did God make first: billboards or LA?”), to our very own Kensington Market, meeting lawyers, activists, and even chiropractors fighting visual pollution, environmental degradation, and lawlessness by some of the world’s largest firms. If you’ve had a recent encounter with the Astral media “Info” pillars that dot the downtown, you might have already asked a few of the questions posed here.
Accessible and smart without being overly slick, This Space Available offers a diversity of perspectives on the history, legality, and morality of billboard advertising worldwide.
This Space Available screens as part of the Next Wave Film Festival at the TIFF Bell Lightbox on Thursday, May 10 at 10 AM and Saturday, May 14 at 2:15 PM. More information and tickets are available here. The film is rated PG, and all are welcome!
