This week, Toronto film aficionados have the opportunity to catch a screening of Public Hearing. Brought to us by Refocus, the film revolves around a civic meeting in a rural American town, wherein the locals discuss whether to accept the re-zoning proposal to allow the town’s Wal-Mart to expand.

Public Hearing is a verbatim re-performance from this meeting; taken from a transcript downloaded as publicly available information. Shot entirely in cinematic close-up on black-and-white 16mm film, a cast of actors and non-actors read between the lines in an ironic debate over the replacement of an existing Wal-Mart with a ‘mega’ Wal-Mart.

Director James N. Kienitz Wilkins uses the transcript as a tool to create satire.. The film is somewhat of an experiment; in that it’s meant to have the audience question what is “lost in translation” during such mundane, civic proceedings.

The film comes with some strong support from various outlets, including Indiewire. It is a documentary that expands its boundaries, and one that will provide plenty of post-screening discussion material.