Synopsis
Every Sunday, Hudson returns to Park Extension to see his father. Along the way, he runs into his childhood friend, Baki. Together, they wander their old stomping grounds, just like when they were kids. As they walk, Hudson reminisces about how the neighbourhood shaped who he has become.
A word from Tënk
Skillfully edited, Parc-Ex The Heart of MTL paints a vibrant portrait of Hudson as he revisits the neighborhood of his childhood. The images, whether carefully framed or evoked by the character, bring his memories to life—his childhood, the abruptly ended baseball games—and the places that watched him grow up. He tackles themes deeply rooted in these experiences: the racism faced by residents at the hands of the police in one of the most multiethnic neighborhoods in the province, the fence erected by Ville Mont-Royal that acts as a border between the two starkly different neighborhoods, and the almost mythical Halloween event where the less fortunate children of Parc-Ex couldn’t collect candy from the wealthy families on the other side. But as Hudson says, : “There were other neighborhoods. If the rich want to stay with the rich, let the rich stay with the rich.”
Like so many who live there, his sense of belonging to the neighborhood is strong. Parc-Ex always leaves a mark on the hearts of those who pass through.
Jenny Cartwright
Documentarian and audio artist
Presented in collaboration with
