This is a short trailer for director Fredrik Gertten’s film of the same name. As it begins, I’m thinking “I know that voice” and, of course it’s Rob Ford, Toronto’s infamous crack-smoking ex-mayor and equally infamous soldier in the ‘war on the car’. Ugh, I thought we were done with that guy.
But the filmmaker’s point is very different from Rob Ford’s. Gertten sees a connection between the global conspiracy to deny climate change and local policies that persecute cyclists. Personally I’d like to believe bikes and cars don’t always have to be at odds and we can see cities in the world today where a truce is slowly being forged. However, there’s no doubt the Rob Fords of the world will have to recognize this means a world with less cars and more bikes before we can say a balance has been reached.
This looks like a good documentary. Not in the trailer, but in the full film, is Dan Koeppel, whose writing I’ve always found astute and amusing. So, a little Dan Koeppel, a little Rob Ford. If it’s war, I know who I’m laughing with and who I’m laughing at.
UPDATE, DECEMBER 2024: Ugh, when will we be done with the Ford bros?
