by MATTHEW HAYS

Though Montreal’s current economic boom is consistently touted as some kind of godsend, there has clearly been a rather intense downside to the gold rush.

What used to be a renter’s market has shifted, rather dramatically, and now, the city has a vacancy rate half that of Toronto’s. That’s something I never, ever thought would happen.

The offshoot of that is that one of Montreal’s essential characteristics - its sheer liveability - has changed, perhaps for good. With his directorial debut, 645 Wellington, Montreal filmmaker Kaveh Nabatian explores one of the side effects of the upward glide of real estate prices. Slowly but surely, rental-unit apartment blocks are having their tenants ousted by landlords, eager to make a fast buck by converting to pricey condo units. This NFB production profiles a cross-section of the building’s tenants as they fight a stubborn landlord; as the film proceeds, Nabatian effectively turns the building itself into a living character, alongside the human ones. I loved this film - it’s a sharp, tightly edited piece that, in microcosm, tells a story indicative of the massive changes our town is currently experiencing. Part future shocker, part cautionary tale, 645 Wellington is engaging viewing, especially for those whose cages are being rattled by money-hungry landlords. The doc unreels this Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. at the NFB downtown (1564 St-Denis). The director will be present and a question-and-answer session will follow the screening.

Opening this Friday (Feb. 7) is the feature directorial debut of local artist B. de Burgh, Katryn’s Place. In it, our heroine (played by the unbeatable Pascale Montpetit) is a somewhat lost widow who must find her way alone in a strange parallel-universe Montreal. Her revelations come through her dog (!), who escapes from her yard throughout the movie and keeps running away. Katryn’s Place is an odd little entry, for sure, and I confess that I couldn’t always tell where the filmmakers were trying to take us, let alone where they were coming from. Still, Montpetit is always something to behold, one of our premier thespians. Eric Goulem, Angelo Cadet and France Arbour are also fine in supporting roles.

O Patro Vys (356 Mont-Royal E., right above the notorious drinking hole Bily Kun), the city’s new cultural hothouse, is holding regular screenings of movies every Monday night. This Monday, Feb. 10, Ciné-Café will present Dancing North, a 1999 film about an Italian rock star who leaves Italy to live in Northern Quebec with the Inuit. Shows begin at 8 p.m. O Patro Vys is also accepting submissions from local filmmakers who wish to screen their films as part of this regular series. Those interested should contact Harm Duzink at harm@opatrovys.com. :

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