By John Corrado
The 2026 Hot Docs Film Festival runs from April 23rd to May 3rd in Toronto
When it opened fifty years ago in 1976, the CN Tower instantly became a focal point of Toronto. It was the tallest building in the world, and would remain so for decades until the Burj Khalifa was built. It was unmissable on the city’s skyline, revolutionized telecom capabilities as a broadcast tower, and became a major tourist destination.
Directed by Mark Myers, The Tower That Built a City is a hugely enjoyable documentary that not only takes us through the fascinating history of the CN Tower’s construction itself, but also serves as a love letter to the city of Toronto as a whole. And, as someone who has lived here all my life, I found the film irresistible.
Myers gets into the impressive technical side of how the team of architects and engineers designed the tower to withstand the wind, and built it out of continuously poured concrete that literally allowed spectators to see it rise metre by metre. But The Tower That Built a City is also about the rise of Toronto’s vibrant culture, tracing all of this back to how the CN Tower transformed the city as soon as it was built.
This is partially credited to broadcast luminary Moses Znaimer, who used the increased broadcast capabilities of the tower to expand the reach of Citytv and launch MuchMusic into our own “CanCon” version of MTV. Myers uses the tower as a symbol behind our music scene and rise of our city’s sports teams, culminating in the Raptors winning the championship in 2019. It’s a surprisingly compelling argument that having such a prominent national landmark increased our civic pride.
The film even showcases some of the times our city has played itself onscreen, from Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World to Domee Shi’s animated Turning Red (seeing a Pixar movie featured in a documentary about Toronto is a real treat). It’s a lot of material to cover, but Myers and his co-editor Tyler Hughes keep The Tower That Built a City fast-paced and constantly engaging to watch at just over ninety minutes. The result is a wonderful, feel-good film for all Torontonians.
The Joy of Movies 