HOT DOCS 2018: WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOUR

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Fred Rogers pauses during a May 27, 1993 taping of his show ” Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

The Facebook viral post of Mr. Rogers talking to the Senate about the importance of childhood programming in which PBS was awarded 20 million dollars reminded us how his show shaped our childhood.   Now comes Oscar winning director Morgan Neville’s documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbour which is a biopic of  Mister Rogers and his show Mister Roger’s Neighbourhood which will make its Canadian premiere at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival in Toronto.  With carefully selected interviews and a collection of behind the scenes and never seen before footage of the show’s production, Won’t You Be My Neighbour centres around how Mr. Rogers was kind to everyone and made sure that everyone was embraced for who they are.  The Neighbourhood of Make Believe was even that much important as the iconic red trolley came into the kingdom where puppets King Friday XIII and Lady Elaine discussed some of the most difficult issues children had to face.  Whether it was the assassination of JFK, divorce, or the economy of your household, Mr. Rogers helped his audience build moral values and ethics into everyone’s heart.  Won’t You Be My Neighbour could not have come at a better time where his legacy continues to live on and a gentle reminder of how good things were and how good things should be.  He killed us all with kindness.  Why can’t we?