Sports

7 Beats Per Minute
Yuqi Kang 2024 1 h 40 min
During a world-record attempt, freediving champion Jessea Lu blacked out and was lifeless for four minutes. Director Yuqi Kang’s documentary captures the descent of a lifetime, when Jessea returns to the site of her near-death experience to face the traumas of her past and find a way back to connection.
A Motorcycle Saved My Life
lori lozinski 2022 12 min
In A Motorcycle Saved My Life, the open road presents a point of departure for director lori lozinski to process deep-seated grief. Revisiting the formative experiences that drove her ambition, lozinski examines the influence of her parents in the present light of day
The Tournament
Sam Vint 2020 22 min
Over the course of a weekend tournament, youth sledge hockey teams from the U.S. and Canada battle for supremacy. Designed for players who have a physical challenge, the fundaments of the sport — passing, shooting, trash talking your opponents – remain the same. Director Sam Vint captures the end-to-end action as the Manitoba Sledgehammers do it all.
True North: Inside the Rise of Toronto Basketball (Feature)
Ryan Sidhoo 2019 1 h 29 min
On the heels of the Toronto Raptors’ historic NBA Championship and the record-setting number of Canadian draft picks, the Toronto hoop dream is more alive than ever. In this feature-length doc, director Ryan Sidhoo shines the spotlight on 12-year-old Elijah Fisher, 15-year-old Keone Davis and 18-year-old Cordell Veira as they navigate today’s youth basketball machine in pursuit of their own NBA dreams.
Ice Breakers
Sandamini Rankaduwa 2019 15 min
Josh Crooks is a promising teen hockey star in a sport where Black players like him are chronically underrepresented. Ice Breakers reveals the buried history of a pioneering Black hockey league in Atlantic Canada, as Crooks discovers that his unshakable passion is tied to a rich and remarkable heritage.
Standing on the Line
Paul Émile d'Entremont 2018 1 h 20 min
TRIGGER WARNING: This film contains the following subject matter: Suicide and self harm.

In both amateur and professional sports, being gay remains taboo. For some athletes, the pressure to perform is compounded by the further strain of deciding whether or not to come out of the closet. They set out to overcome prejudice in the hopes of changing things for the athletes of tomorrow.
The Roots & The Rise
Ryan Sidhoo 2018 23 min
Toronto is at the epicentre of Canada’s NBA talent boom. We meet the pioneers who have grown the game and introduce a group of young hopefuls chasing their own hoop dream.
Snow Warrior
Kurt Spenrath & Frederick Kroetsch 2018 8 min
Snow Warrior is a love letter to the splendour of winter. It captures the beauty of a northern city through the eyes of a bicycle courier named Mariah. We see her ready herself and her bike for a gruelling day’s work of racing through the snow and traffic to get her deliveries into the hands of her customers.
Gun Runners
Anjali Nayar 2016 1 h 29 min
For years, Julius Arile and Robert Matanda thrive among the bands of warriors that terrorize the North Kenyan countryside. Stealing cattle, raiding and running from the police is the only life they know. So when both warriors suddenly disappear from the bush, many assume they are dead or have been arrested. Instead, they trade in their rifles for sneakers—in the hopes of making it big as professional marathon runners.
The Devil's Toy
Claude Jutra 1969 15 min
This short 1969 documentary dedicated "to all victims of intolerance” depicts the dawn of skateboarding in Montreal. A new activity frowned upon by police and adults, skateboarding gave youngsters a thrilling sensation of speed and freedom. This film - the first Canadian documentary ever made about the sport - captures the exuberance of boys and girls having the time of their lives in free-wheeling downhill locomotion.
Shredded
Douglas C. Taplin & Richard Gaudio 2005 22 min
This short film follows a group of teenage boys eager to emulate the muscle-filled bodies of their media heroes. Revealing the lengths these boys are willing to go to achieve their goal, this film explores the use of supplements and the temptations of steroids. The boys relate their experiences, desires and motivations to the audience, who are left to draw their own conclusions.

The film is designed to provoke discussion among teenagers about body image and where lines should be drawn between healthy and dangerous behaviour.
Adrenaline Bach
Marten Berkman 2007 6 min
Adrenaline Bach is a visually stunning short film that features Tim Sellars, a triathlon athlete who trains among the forests, ridges and mists of Canada’s boreal mountains. A meditation on the inter-connectedness of human nature and the natural world, the film is shot against the startlingly beautiful landscape of the Yukon Territory. Director Marten Berkman was the winner of the 2006 Yukon Northern Sights Short Film Competition. Film without words.
Fight
Ervin Chartrand 2012 44 min
This short documentary introduces us to Randy Baleski, a Winnipeg high school teacher and former boxer who has a unique approach to helping students at risk of not graduating: get them in the ring. We watch him work with two Indigenous teens from troubled backgrounds as they slowly come to understand that boxing is more than just a sport… it's a way of life.
Secretariat's Jockey, Ron Turcotte
Phil Comeau 2013 1 h 14 min
This feature-length documentary tells the story of jockey Ron Turcotte, who, along with his legendary horse Secretariat, won the prestigious American Triple Crown in 1973. Follow along as we witness Turcotte’s rise to fame, the fall in 1978 that left him a paraplegic and his emotional journey back to the people and places that marked his life. This is a road movie that delves deep into the thrilling and dangerous world of horseracing, featuring never-before-seen footage of Secretariat and appearances by Triple Crown winners Steve Cauthen and Jean Cruguet.
Hardwood

Hubert Davis 2004 29 min
Hardwood is a personal journey by director Hubert Davis, the son of former Harlem Globetrotter Mel Davis, who explores how his father's decisions affected his life and those of his extended family. Elegantly structured into three chapters entitled "love," "recollection" and "redemption," Davis uses personal interviews, archival footage and home movies to delve into his father's past in the hope of finding a new direction for his own.
At its core, Hardwood is about the power of redemption and the healing of the bonds between fathers and sons.
Mighty Jerome (Short Version)
Charles Officer 2010 52 min
In 1959, at just 19, Harry Jerome was Canada's most promising track and field star on his way to the Olympics in Rome. By 1962, after suffering a gruesome leg injury, there was every reason to think that his racing days were over. But Jerome was not just a champion on the track; he was doubly determined off it. And so began his climb to what his coach, Bill Bowerman, called "the greatest comeback in track and field history."

Through years of unparalleled political turbulence, racial conflict and his own personal challenges, Harry Jerome kept his head down and ran, displaying strength of character and willful perseverance every bit as impressive as his record-setting athleticism.

Filmmaker Charles Officer uses gorgeous monochrome imagery, impassioned interviews and astonishing archival footage to tell the runner's triumphant story, from his early days in North Vancouver, through his three Olympics and his unequalled streak of records, to his sudden and tragically premature death. Family, friends and teammates recall a man who forever changed the Canadian sports landscape and made an indelible mark upon the world.

Compelling, surprising and urgently paced, Mighty Jerome will electrify sports fans, history buffs and all those with an appreciation for tales of courage and redemption.
River of Life
Werner Walcher 2007 53 min
This documentary focuses on the Yukon River Quest, the world's longest annual canoe and kayak race. Athletes come from around the world to test their endurance, racing day and night along 740 km of rugged river shoreline. The film chronicles the experiences of the all-female 2006 Paddlers Abreast team. By following them from the moment they climb into their boat in Whitehorse to the cheers that greet them in Dawson City, the film tells an exhilarating story of a group of women who have faced death and understand how precious life is.
Legend of a Warrior
Corey Lee 2012 1 h 18 min
In this feature length documentary, filmmaker Corey Lee attempts to reconnect with his father, renowned martial artist Frank Lee. Frank's status as legendary street fighter and coach have kept him at an emotional (and physical) distance from his son, but now the younger Lee has decided to re-enter his father's world... a world where fighting rules.
Junior
Isabelle Lavigne & Stéphane Thibault 2008 1 h 36 min
This full-length documentary offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at our national sport, hockey. Taking in an entire season of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, this film reveals the daily lives of players and managers on this Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team.

Admired and treated like professionals, junior hockey players are teenagers absorbed by their future. Trainers, shareholders, agents, scouts and parents: all eyes are fixed on these elite young players, even though only a tiny number of them will succeed in playing at the highest level.
Carts of Darkness
Murray Siple 2008 59 min
Murray Siple's feature-length documentary follows a group of homeless men who have combined bottle picking with the extreme sport of racing shopping carts down the steep hills of North Vancouver. This subculture shows that street life is much more than the stereotypes portrayed in mainstream media.

The film takes a deep look into the lives of the men who race carts, the adversity they face and the appeal of cart racing despite the risk. Shot in high-definition and featuring tracks from Black Mountain, Ladyhawk, Vetiver, Bison, and Alan Boyd of Little Sparta.
The Boxing Girls of Kabul
Ariel Nasr 2011 52 min
In this feature documentary, a remarkable group of young Afghan women dream of representing their country as boxers at the 2012 Olympics, embarking on a journey of both personal and political transformation.

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