Directed by Amélie Hardy , produced by Rosalie Chicoine Perreault of Metafilms , distributed by Travelling Distribution , and featuring Mississauga resident Wolf Ruck , the 18-minute documentary began with an anonymous neighbour complaint and a homeowner’s refusal to cut a naturalized garden to comply with a municipal by-law’s 20-centimetre vegetation rule. Hardy transforms that dispute into a larger story about urban biodiversity, conformity, citizenship and the right to express environmental values through the landscape immediately surrounding one’s home. The film premiered at SXSW 2026 and has subsequently travelled through an extensive international festival circuit. At Québec’s REGARD Festival it won both the Canadian Grand Prize and the FIPRESCI International Critics Award . Festival REGARD The FIPRESCI recognition was particularly striking: international critic Marco Lombardi described Hardy’s film as a work in which the struggle over plants and cater...

I am delighted to share some extraordinary news about a story that you helped make possible. Travelling Distribution , the distributor of Amélie Hardy’s documentary A WOLF IN THE SUBURBS , has now officially announced the film: 99th Oscars® — FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION : BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM For those of us who have followed this unlikely journey from the beginning, it is difficult to imagine a more remarkable turn of events. What began as a seemingly simple dispute over whether native plants, pollinator habitat and naturalized vegetation should be permitted to grow beyond an arbitrary 20-centimetre height limit became a years-long struggle over urban biodiversity, municipal enforcement and a citizen’s constitutional freedom to express environmental values on his own property. And now that story has travelled far beyond Mississauga. During the 2026 festival season, A WOLF IN THE SUBURBS has received local, regional, national and international exposure, screening at major...

MISCHA’S GARDEN has been submitted to the following Short Film Festivals:   Wild & Scenic Film Festival in California - February, 2027 http://www.wildandscenicfilmfestival.org/ Toronto Short Film Festival - March 16 to 21, 2027 http://www.torontoshort.com/ Vancouver Short Film Festival which - May 28-30, 2027 https://www.vsff.com/  Oslo Short Film Festival - August 28 – 29, 2027 https://www.osloshortfilmfestival.com/     The film follows our cat, Mischa, as he wanders through his rewilded domain alive with pollinators, native plants, and wildlife. His feline observations contrast the quiet patience of nature—as observed, appreciated and respected by acclaimed Québec documentary filmmaker, Amélie Hardy, and cinematographer, Myriam Payette, who documented it in their award-winning film A WOLF IN THE SUBURBS —with the heedlessly destructive actions of Mississauga's By-law Enforcement authorities.   Emerging from the broader story behind the Ruck ...

The City of Mississauga and Ward 1 Councillor Stephen Dasko recently celebrated the opening of the Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area as a major step in reconnecting residents to Lake Ontario, restoring the Lakeview shoreline, and expanding public access to trails, nature, and active living. But lest we forget: Why does the Orchard Heights Park Foot-Bike Bridge — a key, long-planned active-transportation link to the Etobicoke Creek Trail envisioned by Ward 1 Councillor Jim Tovey in the City of Mississauga’s 2010 Cycling and Pedestrian Master Plans — remain cancelled, stopped, or held in abeyance? The Orchard Heights Park Bridge was intended to connect Orchard Heights Park with the Etobicoke Creek Trail and surrounding destinations, including parks, playgrounds, sports fields, beaches, volleyball courts, children’s play areas, splash pads, transit, neighbourhood shopping, the Waterfront Trail, and the broader Lakeview-Mississauga-Toronto active-transportation network. According to Cit...

Posted in Festival Coverage by Hillary Butler – May 03, 2026 “Former Olympian, 79-year-old Wolf Ruck lives in a house in Mississauga where his efforts to “re-wild” his front lawn are met with protest from his neighbours and the city. The film blends archival footage, fantasy and thriller genres, humour and nature documentary seamlessly.  An exceedingly informative and entertaining way to highlight one man’s fight to support the local ecosystem and do his part to support the climate.  This film will have you looking at your lawn in protest of its symbolism.  As Ruck says, “A little chaos never hurt anyone, in fact it’s in the tangled mess that life actually happens.”  Heading out to buy wildflower seeds now.  5/5” OVERVIEW Directed by Amélie Hardy, and produced by Rosalie Chicoine-Perreault of Metafilms, the film  A Wolf in the Suburbs  (2026), is a short art film / documentary about a Mississauga man’s fight to keep his naturalized lawn. The world prem...

Lorraine Johnson Photo   HALLELUJAH !!! Just in time for Resurrection Sunday !!! THANK YOU to all who supported the Cause !!! CITY OF MISSISSAUGA CORPORATE REPORT dated April 8, 2028 “In response to the Court’s decision and to align the by-law with practices that help ensure human health and safety while restoring enforceable standards, staff recommend repealing the Weed and Grass Control By-law and replacing it with a new Turfgrass and Prohibited Plant Species By-law (the “new By-law”). The proposed new By-law is intentionally limited in scope and is not a comprehensive redesign of property maintenance regulations. It removes terminology and provisions that are no longer defensible and is designed to address deficiencies by clearly defining what is regulated and why, restricting regulation to circumstances where municipal intervention is necessary to protect human health and safety. The following recommendations were made in consultation with Forestry, comparable jurisdiction...

A Wolf in the Suburbs  is coming to a Film Festival near you !!!  The 19-minute documentary directed by  Amélie Hardy , will have its  World Premiere  at the 2026  SXSW Film & TV Festival  in Austin, Texas, running from March 12–18, 2026. It is produced by  Metafilms ,  distributed by  Travelling Distribution  and  featured in the Documentary Short Competition .  Click to view