Clubland Gets Inside Toronto's Club District

MDF Productions

Siobhan Ozege (CHARTattack)

10/01/2009 3:09pm

If you've ever lived or spent time in the Greater Toronto Area, chances are you know of the infamous 1.4 square kilometre space around Richmond Street known as "clubland." Located in the heart of downtown in the city's former textile district, it's now the "largest and most congested playground in North America — 60 clubs and 25 bars."

Eric Geringas' Clubland documentary aims to examine the controversy that results when drunken suburbanites, condo owners, club promoters and police duke it out in a fight for order.

Clubland profiles residents, club-goers, policemen, club owners and promoters and offers a solid look into the mounting tension over use of space, violence and safety in the area. It chronicles the buildings' shift from sweatshops in the '80s to some of the hottest clubs in the world. It's described as "a candid nocturnal romp [that] captures the rhythms of a neighbourhood that is more than a place — it's an experience, a scene, an attitude — and the centre of the universe for a generation of Toronto revelers."

This short documentary allows its viewers to question the position of all concerned parties and put themselves in the midst of the weekend crazy known as Saturday night.