Our Main Project: Collecting Seniors' Stories
Extraordinary Woman Series: Filmmaker Elvira Notari
For our next Extraordinary Woman series event at the Revue, November, 15, 11:30 am – 2:30 pm, we will explore the remarkable story of Elvira Notari, who is described as Italy’s most prolific female filmmaker. She made over 60 feature films. Only three now exist, as a result of the censorship crackdown by the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini. This event, details to follow, will include a panel to set the scene and a Q&A with the documentary film’s director. Read about Notari and the event here. You will be able to reserve your spot shortly.
Mapping our Memories is live!
At Back Lane Studios, we’ve been working on the Mapping our Memories project for quite some time. We still have much to do, and we hope over time to collect and map hundreds of seniors’ stories in video and written formats. But we’ve made our website live. Click here or on the image to have a look! To support this project, we have FREE weekly video-making workshops and a new FREE memoir writing program starting at the studio on Tuesday, Nov. 27. READ MORE HERE.
Memoir Writing course: Oct. 27-Nov. 24
Join us for a series of FREE Memoir-Writing workshops to be offered by Janice Kulyk Keefer, poet, retired prof in Modernist Literature and creative writing at Guelph Humber. Participants will meet for five Tuesday evening workshops (7:00 – 8:30 pm) from Oct. 27 to Nov. 24 at Back Lane Studios. COURSE DETAILS ARE HERE.
To read about writer and comedian Carolyn Bennett’s writing program, which continues to Nov. 9 with a public reading at Back Lane on Thursday, Nov. 12, 7:00 pm, click here !
Drop-in video-making sessions
To support our Mapping our Memories we are continuing the Monday and Wednesday afternoon FREE drop-in video-making sessions from 1:00-3:00 pm. We’re offering help for people continuing to work on their videos and for anyone who would like to learn how to make a short video. If you’re interested but haven’t attended one of our workshops, please come by. Email us — info@backlanestudios.ca — or give us a call at 647-313-1654. Anna Marie Kalcevich made the video about her grandparents (image above) at these sessions.
HONE YOUR HOME VIDEO SKILLS: FREE WORKSHOP
The holiday season is fast approaching. How would you like to up your game when it comes to making a video of an event with family or friends or of a trip? Join us for a free one-session workshop Sunday, Nov. 22, 2:00-4:00 pm. Read more about it here.
Researching Toronto History
Wayne Reeves, recently retired from his post of Chief Curator for Toronto, has shared his knowledge on research tools that are useful for anyone researching Toronto’s history. These resources cover photo searches and use of Toronto City Directories and Fire Plans and Maps such as the Goad series. You’ll also find lists of buildings with images in the City Directories, plus 1,450 street name changes. We have posted the PowerPoints Wayne used for his presentations, as well as Zoom recordings plus extra resources, which he has compiled. Find links to the videos, PowerPoints and supplementary resources for Wayne’s workshops here.
One Show Closes Oct. 17; Another Opens Oct. 23!
It will be closing day for the five-artist show this coming Saturday, from noon until 4:00 pm. Read more here.
But mark down Friday, Oct. 23, for the opening of a new show, “Curiosity”, featuring the portraits of Lesja Cymbally. From fun to serious, they offer lots to explore! Join us to toast the artist and her work, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the opening.
New Venture and Book Launch, Oct. 29, 2026
Have you ever wished you could write a family memoir? Well, Daniel Buckles has done just that. Join us at Back Lane Studios on Thursday, Oct. 29 at 7:00 pm for a launch of his book Interrupted Peace: A Toronto Family in Times of War. His family roots are imbedded in Parkdale and the small hamlet of Whitevale, now in Pickering. Daniel’s book, which melds family stories with the larger social and historical context, is the first publication in Back Lane Studios’ new book publishing business. Read more about Daniel’s book and Back Lane’s publishing initiative, here.
OldTO.org: Mapping Archival Photos
Welcome to OldTO. It’s an interactive map featuring a wealth of digitized historic photos from the City of Toronto Archives. The map was originally created by Sidewalk Labs, the Google affiliate that was planning a downtown development in Toronto’s Portlands. Sidewalk abandoned its project in 2020 and eventually stopped hosting OldTO.org. However, they kindly left the source code freely available. At Back Lane Studios, we were sad to see OldTO.org vanish. One of our main projects is our Mapping our Memories endeavour. This photo map parallels this interest, and we are thrilled to have been able to restore it. We will be forever grateful to software developer Michael Lenaghan for his terrific work bringing this mapping tool back to life!
Read the article about OldTO in BlogTO!