When
contemplating his collection of books, the philosopher Walter Benjamin wrote “Every
passion borders on the chaotic, but the collector’s passion borders on the
chaos of memories.” (Illuminations,
p. 60). When a collector passes away, this
“chaos of memories” is passed on to loved ones who often struggle with whether
to keep or discard items that represent a lifelong passion.
In the case
of Hilda Walsh, her husband Ivor Walsh (1923-2002) was a streetcar
enthusiast. His favourite streetcar
system was the one in Boston, Massachusetts.
Beginning in 1979 or 1980, Ivor began transformed the Walsh’s basement
in Toronto into a miniature replica of Boston’s Green Line as it would have
looked in the 1950s. In addition to the
meticulously modeled streetcars and tracks, the miniature streetcar scene
features highly detailed neighbourhood buildings with interior and exterior
lights including an authentic 1950s diner complete with customers eating their
meals. The roof of one of the stations
has 350 miniature light bulbs in its ceiling.
When he was alive, Ivor would have the streetcar running all day while
listening to cassettes of Frank Sinatra.
This slice
of life short documentary by Naomi Hocura is a loving tribute to the life and
passion of Ivor Walsh, told in the first person by his widow Hilda and his
friends and fellow enthusiasts Dave Haire and Phil Spencer. It also tells us a great deal about Hilda
herself, her warmth, her love for her late husband, and her own passion for making
stained glass. I particularly love the cinematography of the film, such as the cutaways of close up details of the tracks and the miniature scenes.
Tiny Tracks had its world premiere at
the Hot
Docs festival in Toronto. Carol Off
interviewed Naomi Hocura and Hilda Walsh about the film for As
It Happens. The
Toronto Star also wrote about the film.
Official
website: http://tinytracksdoc.com/
Naomi Hocura is a Canadian musician /
artist / filmmaker / curator based in Erin, Ontario. In 2009, she curated the animated short
programme Seconds Under
the Sun (Toronto/Winnipeg) featuring works by animators from puppet master Kihachiro
Kawamoto to cutting edge avant-garde artists like Akino Kondoh and Atsushi
Wada. I once saw her perform a psychedelic
soundtrack to Kenji Mizoguchi’s The Water
Magician (1933) with her band the Vowls (Shinsedai
2010).
2016 Cathy
Munroe Hotes
