- Victoria Park - A Generation of Bocce, directed by Tracey Lebedovich screening at the Okanagan International Film Festival, July 21 to 25. For more information visit www.victoriaparkmovie.com.

For North Vancouver filmmaker Tracey Lebedovich, the story doesn't have to be big to be beautiful.

"I like finding beauty in the everyday," she says. "Everyday people are actually really spectacular if you look at them. As an independent documentary filmmaker, it's not the famous actors or politicians that inspire me. It's regular, everyday people doing what they can do to make life better for themselves and for others. People that we often overlook and undervalue. People that each of us could find in our very own neighbourhoods, if we chose to look close enough. This documentary is my opportunity to tell the story of a few unknown, but very important Canadians that I see as a cherished neighbourhood institution and an important part of my city's culture."

Back in 2007, Lebedovich was living in East Vancouver's Commercial Drive neighbourhood and on maternity leave from her regular job as an art director and graphic designer.

"I had all this creative energy building up and nowhere to put it," she recalls.

But while taking walks with her young daughter Stella, Lebedovich noticed a group of men playing bocce in Victoria Park, a quiet piece of greenspace just a few blocks off The Drive. Day in, day out, the same men would return to the same park to play. Lebedovich's curiousity was piqued.

Having never made a documentary film before and not speaking any Italian, Lebedovich was a bit intimidated at the thought of interrupting this tight-knit group. But she enlisted the help of the nearby Italian Cultural Centre, who sent someone to help make the necessary introductions.

She was rewarded with a glimpse into one of the Lower Mainland's countless tiny subcultures, a single thread of the city's fabric. But Lebedovich soon realized that the story was about more than just bocce.

"It started out just being about these guys, and I think bocce was the vehicle to tell their story. It was a vehicle to express their Italian-ness and it also gave them an opportunity to pass down something to their families."

"I know that the neighbourhood there is changing really quickly. When the real estate boom happened, East Van in particular got hit really hard. It's positive for some people and it's negative for others. That community was mainly Italian back in the heyday. These guys are getting older and their neighbourhood is getting less and less familiar and there are less and less of them still around. It's this fading piece of the city's history. I don't think it's going to be around when these guys leave."

Even Victoria Park itself was changing. The city closed the park for renovations in 2007 and the revamped greenspace, while improved, was inevitably different.

"The park went through a major transformation," says Lebedovich, "so I think it lost a bit of something for them. It used to be their park and now it's everyone's park -- which is a good thing for everyone, but for them it's another change they have to deal with."

Physical changes weren't the only forces acting on the bocce players. While the numbers in Vancouver's Italian community swelled during the post-war immigration boom, that flow has dropped off to a trickle. And for the next generation, bocce doesn't hold quite the same appeal as it does for their parents and grandparents.

"That's another issue of the changing times. All of their kids and grandkids were born in Canada so they're more interested in a more traditional Canadian lifestyle: playing hockey and soccer and hanging out with their friends. So they don't have anyone to hand over their culture and traditions to. It's a weird dilemma for them. When they came over it was difficult for them to be different so they wanted to blend in. But now their population is dwindling, it's time for the next generation to take over and retain those traditions. But there are so few people coming over from Italy now. I think the culture is at risk of fading away."

The resulting film -- Victoria Park -- was made with a tiny budget and was done "about 90 per cent" by Lebedovich herself. Her film debut demonstrates, she says, that a little curiosity is more important than a lot of budget.

"My message is to appreciate what's around you and cherish these little bits of the city's culture. They are an important part of what makes our city so great. I just want people to pay tribute to that. In 10 years, I want the story of these guys to still be around. Some of them have been there 45, 50 years. It's pretty neat."

balldritt@nsnews.com