'Accidental Parkland: The Bounty & Burden of Toronto's Ravines' - Movie Review

I saw "Accidental Parkland" in preview at the Patagonia store on Queen West in Toronto (2016-12-15). The movie points out that Toronto is blessed with a truly staggering number of ravines. They've been protected from building because of the danger of flooding, and so the city is left with thousands of hectares of "accidental parkland." And it is, without a doubt, a blessing and an opportunity. Shawn Micallef (professor and newspaper columnist in the city) narrates, and walks the ravines. Someone with a very good eye got the movie some great footage (including a lot of drone shots), although perhaps not enough: while there was no direct repetition of footage, there were several times they used footage that occurred moments after footage seen earlier in the film. As the film only runs about one hour, we might have hoped for better. They talk to a number of more or less influential people, among them Mark Mattson who is "Lake Ontario Waterkeeper" (I had no idea that title existed), Geoff Cape, CEO of Evergreen Brickworks, and Jennifer Keesmaat, Toronto's Chief Planner. At one hour in length it's a bit too long, but for a movie that was made on $26,000 funding from Indiegogo, it's both informative and interesting.