I didn’t grow up watching Mr. Rogers, he wasn’t someone we watched in Quebec. So I didn’t know anything about it, or barely anything until I sat down last year to watch the incredible documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbour? By the end, I left the theatre in tears and nothing but love for a man that I didn’t grow up watching. And then, Marielle Heller, who directed the great Can You Ever Forgive Me? from last year, was announced to be directing a film about Mr. Rogers with Tom Hanks attached and I was in. Well, let me tell you something, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is a beautiful love letter to the man himself. In Heller’s hands, the film becomes so much more then it could.
a beautiful day in the neighborhood
I moved to Toronto three years ago in the middle of TIFF. Three years ago, I was alone and knew no one and so I did what any cinephile does, I went to a movie. Growing up, we didn’t have an excess of money and so going to the theatre was something we did but not every week. It’s only when I started working that the theatre became a regular thing for me. Going to a Festival was all new to me, the experience was everything and more. Then, last year I was lucky enough to be able to cover the Festival and was able to see a lot more then I thought I would. And this year, well I will be again be attending the Festival as press and will provide coverage right here.
The UnderSCENE 