When No More Noise was first getting started, the world was locked down. Everything was happening online, and we were just a few passionate residents trying to figure out how to tackle Toronto’s broken noise bylaws.

During one of those early online community meetings, Ingrid introduced herself and explained that she was studying the impacts of urban noise. Sitting in that same virtual room was a filmmaker named Cat Mills. After a few short exchanges, a spark was lit. Together, we put together a short pitch for Hot Docs’ Citizen Minutes, a project commissioned to showcase ordinary Canadians doing extraordinary things to improve their communities.

We knew we were onto something during the selection process. Every single time our pitch was played, the room didn't just listen: people immediately started passionately sharing their own urban noise horror stories. The programmers knew right away that this was a topic that struck a deep chord with everyday people.

We were incredibly honored to have our story selected for the Series 2 collection. This project marked the official launchpad for No More Noise, and we were thrilled to see it featured as part of the event at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) network in 2023 before its official release.

You can watch our 8-minute short documentary, "Do You Hear What I Hear?", entirely for free right here:

👉 Watch "Do You Hear What I Hear?" on Citizen Minutes

A very special thanks to filmmaker Cat Mills, and to Daniella Levy-Pinto, who was also featured in the documentary. Daniella's perspective in the film is profoundly enlightening; she shares what it is like to navigate a major city as someone who is blind, trying to find her way through a disorienting, dense "fog" of urban noise pollution. It completely reframes how we think about accessibility and the city's soundscape.

We hope you enjoy the film! Let us know what your noise story is in the comments below.

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