Small Wonders Tally Abecassis, Canada, 2009, 53 minutes
Saturday, May 15 | 12:30pm | Vancity Theatre
“You probably walk by places like this every day on your way to work, that antique store with the cluttered window display, the bike shop that even your parents remember as children, the window store with no sign outside and that place that repairs what...? TVs? Radios? Each one is a little universe....” So begins director Tally Abecassis’s love song-cum-film about small business owners in Montreal.
A whimsical and warm depiction of the ornery dyspeptic spirit of mom and pop shops that keep on keeping on in the face of dwindling business, big box competition and a largely unconcerned populace, Small Wonders is a fitting title for the worlds contained inside each fading storefront. The establishments profiled include a hardware store, a photography studio and a watch repair shop. In each location, a microcosm of epic drama is unfolding therein, whether it’s the failing eyesight of Peter Bogatzian, the watchmaker, or Jae-Gil Pak and her mother worrying over the proliferation of competing hardware chains, or Norman Eppelbaum, whose life lessons include advice on having a happy marriage (“Religion is the cornerstone of marriage”). While there may be a certain mournful spirit attached to the idea of a vanishing way of life, each of the individuals profiled in Abecassis’ sweet and witty film emerge as full-fledged characters. Shot over the course of ten years, the relationship between the filmmaker and her subjects has had sufficient time to deepen and enrich through trust, time and shared experience. Even as the world around them gets more homogenous and bland every year, the people in Small Wonders retain their oddity and complexity, holding on to their dreams, regrets for past and hopes for the future.
“(An) aesthetic feast that gives us an intimate glimpse into the ordinary lives of interesting characters.”
– Meg Hewings, HOUR
Director's biography
Tally Abecassis graduated from Concordia University, Montreal, in 1996 with a specialization in Communications Studies. Her first documentary, Warshaw on the Main, played on CBC-Newsworld, CBC, CFCF-12, and Télé-Québec. In addition to her film work, she has produced several radio documentaries, primarily for CBC.
Preceded by: Volta Ryan Mullins, Canada, 2009, 13 minutes
An abandoned movie theatre in Ghana becomes the home for memories and fading dreams in Ryan Mullins’ beautifully rendered debut film. As the theatre’s former projectionist (now the village tailor) provides a tour of the crumbling building, the importance of film as a vehicle of information, hope and community becomes terribly apparent. Or, as one man says, “People would go to the cinema just to enjoy the company of others.”
