World In a City
2016 · 13m · Canada
Directed by Brett Story
Genres: documentary
Tones: contemplative, tender
Photographer Colin Boyd Shafer portrays Toronto as a city trying to welcome newcomers, documenting efforts to help immigrants settle and flourish in a growing urban centre.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
A well-meaning doc about immigration policy in Toronto—competent, earnest, and exactly the kind of consensus-building film that gets programmed because nobody can argue against its values. Perfectly fine if you're looking for affirmation; nothing here to make you uncomfortable or reconsider.
Brett Story's measured portrayal of urban welcome sits within a documentary tradition of social portraiture, and the formal discipline of the photography—restrained, observational, aware of its own framing choices—suggests a filmmaker thinking carefully about how form shapes narrative empathy.
The decision to let Shafer's photographs do the talking rather than lean on talking-head testimonials is smart, but it's the sound design—the ambient city hum underneath quiet moments of connection—that does the actual lift, turning what could be a slideshow into something that breathes.