Les furies (The Furies)

Director Mélanie Charbonneau
Year 2025
Run Time 105min
Genre Comedy
2026 spotlight contributor Kim Thúy
When Waterloo gets a new semi-pro men’s hockey team, the local women’s amateur leagues are kicked out of the arena. Determined to avenge their lost ice time, an impulsive hockey player teams up with a local roller derby legend to recruit the town’s outcasts and form an underground roller derby team. 

This bold feminist sports comedy features a hilarious cast of characters that are sure to have you rolling in the aisles.

“Gabrielle Côté puts together all the ingredients of a classic sports comedy, with a healthy dose of ‘girl power’ and female solidarity” - Maxime Demers, Le Journal de Montréal

Director

Mélanie Charbonneau

Quebec-based director Charbonneau started her career directing commercials. Her first short film, Seule (Single), played at several international festivals, including Cannes, and her short film Lunar-Orbit Rendezvous collected over 30 prizes at festivals internationally. Fabuleuses (Fabulous) was her first feature. She has also directed episodes of Je ne suis pas un robot (I am Not a Robot).

 

Writer

Gabrielle Côté

Cast

Anne-Élisabeth Bossé, Gabrielle Côté, France Castel

Producers

Émilie Beaulieu, Sarah Châtelain, Stephanie Pages

Genre

Comedy

Interests

Female Filmmaker, Sports, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

French

Youngblood

Director Hubert Davis
Year 2025
Run Time 105min
Genre Drama, Romance
2026 spotlight contributor Staff Pick
Dean Youngblood, a top hockey prospect in the minor leagues, faces the prospect of his career ending early when he’s suspended for an on-ice incident. Given a new chance on a new team, he has to face his aggression head-on to get back on track and lead his team to a championship.

Drawing inspiration from the 80s cult classic of the same name, Director Hubert Davis expertly captures the drama both on and off the ice, with incredible performances and exhilarating hockey sequences. 

“In an age when sports movies often feel either overly sentimental or clumsily macho, ‘Youngblood’ finds a refreshing sweet spot that’s emotionally intelligent, grounded, and deeply human.” - Louisa Moore, Screen Zealots
 

Director

Hubert Davis

Davis’s first film, Hardwood, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Documentary. He went on to receive the Don Haig award at Hot Docs for Invisible City, and direct numerous award winning commercials, as well as the short films Aruba and Rivolta, which won a Cannes Film Lion, and the feature documentaries Giants of Africa and Black Ice, which premiered at TIFF in 2022 where it won the People’s Choice Documentary Award.

 

Writers

Seneca Aaron, Josh Epstein, Peter Markle

Cast

Shawn Doyle, Ashton James, Blair Underwood

Producers

Anthony Leo, Andrew Rosen

Genres

Drama, Romance

Interest

Sports

Original Language

English

We The North: From Prehistoric to Historic

Director Sami Khan
Year 2025
Run Time 76min
Genre Documentary
This documentary offers an in-depth look at how the fledgling Toronto Raptors franchise transformed into a cultural phenomenon, uniting communities and reshaping Canada's identity. The Raptors' story is the ultimate underdog tale, with an unprecedented look into the team's global impact and its lasting influence across Canada and beyond.
 

Director

Sami Khan

Producers

Stephanie Azam, Vinay Virmani

Genre

Documentary

Interests

BIPOC Stories, History, Sports

Original Language

English

Backspot

Director D. W. Waterson
Year 2023
Run Time 93min
Genre Drama

Riley (Jacobs) and her girlfriend Amanda (Rutendo) devote their whole lives to their passion for cheerleading. Given a chance to compete with an elite squad, Riley pushes herself to a point of dangerous dedication in order to impress her idol, the all-star coach Eileen (Wood). As the pressure mounts on both her and the squad, Riley’s obsession threatens to make her lose everything, leading to an exhilarating finale that is sure to get your blood pumping!

 

Featuring an all-star cast at the top of their game, this intense cheerleading drama is unlike any other that has come before it.

 

“Jacobs and Waterson are in the same perfect lockstep as the film's cheer squad itself.” – Marya E. Gates, RogerEbert.com

Director

D. W. Waterson

Writers

D. W. Waterson, Joanne Sarazen

Cast

Evan Rachel Wood, Kudakwashe Rutendo, Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (Mohawk)

Producers

Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (Mohawk), D. W. Waterson, Martin Katz, Alona Metzer

Genre

Drama

Interests

Female Filmmaker, LGBTQ2S+, Sports, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

English

Ice Queens

Director Damon Kwame Mason
Year 2023
Run Time 44min
Genre Documentary
When hockey legend Angela James led Canada to a gold medal in the first four Women’s World Championships in the 1990s, she inspired a generation of girls to join the sport, and later became the first Black woman inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Now, with stars like Sarah Nurse leading the game into new horizons, Black women continue to be a force to be reckoned with both on and off the ice.

A terrific showcase of the Black players and coaches that continue to make huge contributions to the sport, this documentary is an absolute must-watch for hockey fans. 
 

Director

Damon Kwame Mason

Former TV and radio host Damon Kwame Mason transitioned to filmmaker when he wrote, directed and produced Soul on Ice: Past, Present and Future, a documentary about the contributions of black athletes to the sport of ice hockey. He went on to produce The Cannons in 2022, and directed Ice Queens, which was released in 2023.

Cast

Cassie Campbell-Pascal, Angela James, Sarah Nurse

Producer

Tom Cohen

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Biography, BIPOC Stories, Black Filmmaker, Discrimination, History, Social Justice & Politics, Sports, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

English

Sensei

Director Jill Roberts
Year 2022
Run Time 23min
Genre Documentary
The inspiring story of Natalie Olson, a young woman with Down Syndrome who attained a 2nd degree black belt in karate, as her sensei prepares her for the Parapan American Karate Championship.

Director

Jill Roberts

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Female Filmmaker, Sports, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

English

Les Pee-Wee (The Pee-Wee: The Winter that Changed My Life)

Director Éric Tessier
Year 2012
Run Time 122min
Genre Comedy, Drama, Family

In this uplifting story, 12-year-old Janeau (Pilon) and his father have moved to a new town after the tragic death of his mother. As they struggle to adjust, Janeau is befriended by Julie (Morel-Michaud), a goalie for the local pee-wee hockey team, The Lynx, who are preparing for a province-wide championship.

Julie immediately sniffs out Janeau’s hockey talent, and eventually convinces her coach to let Janeau join the team, much to the dismay of the team’s current star, Joey (Goulet), and his overbearing father.

This stirring hockey comedy will have audiences cheering for The Lynx as they race to settle their differences — both on and off the ice — before the championship.

Director

Éric Tessier

Tessier’s first film was the award-winning short Viens dehors! His feature films include Sur le seuil, Vendus, 5150 rue des Ormes, Junior Majeur, and Les Pee-Wee: L’hiver qui a changé ma vie, which won the Best Feature Film award at TIFF Kids. He recently directed the films Tu te souviendras de moi and When Love Blooms, and episodes of Hôtel and Transplant. He is currently directing The Amityville Curse.

Writers

Martin Bouchard, Emmanuel Joly, Jean-Sébastien Poirier

Cast

Alice Morel-Michaud, Rémi Goulet, Antoine Olivier Pilon

Producer

Christian Larouche

Genres

Comedy, Drama, Family

Interest

Sports

Original Language

French

The Man Who Skied Down Everest

Directors Bruce Nyznik, F.R. Crawley
Year 1975
Run Time 84min
Genre Documentary

While many explorers have climbed the legendary peak of Mount Everest, Yûichirô Miura had a different dream. This Japanese skier and daredevil became the first person to ever ski on the treacherous slopes of the highest mountain in the world, descending nearly 4200 feet. While becoming famous in Japan for his achievement, it wasn’t until Canadian filmmaker F.R. Crawley released this documentary that he received widespread international attention.

Showing all of the dangers and thrilling moments of his journey up and down the mountain, this tense and engaging film won the Oscar for Best Documentary and became a formative work in the sports documentary genre.

Directors

Bruce Nyznik, F.R. Crawley

Writers

Yûichirô Miura, Judith Crawley

Cast

Yûichirô Miura, Douglas Rain, Shintaro Ishihara

Producer

F.R. Crawley

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Classics, Global Experiences, Sports

Original Language

English

Saint Ralph

Director Michael McGowan
Year 2004
Run Time 98min
Genre Comedy, Drama
Ralph is a fourteen year old who attends a catholic school in Hamilton, Ontario. His mom is sick, he's bullied at school, and his life isn't going so great. When Ralph discovers that he has a talent for running, he becomes convinced that he should run in the Boston Marathon. Told it would take a miracle for him to win this prestigious race, he connects the dots and decides that by winning he can also find a cure for his mom. But to pull off this seemingly impossible feat, the loner has to enlist the help of his whole community.
 

Director

Michael McGowan

McGowan made his film debut as a writer, director and producer with My Dog Vincent, and directed Saint Ralph, One Week, Score: A Hockey Musical and Still Mine, which was named by TIFF as one of Canada’s Top 10 films in 2012. He recently directed TV shows Reign and Between and wrote the film The Etruscan Smile. His most recent film, All My Puny Sorrows, premiered at TIFF 2021.

Writer

Michael McGowan

Cast

Adam Butcher

Producers

Teza Lawrence, Andrea Mann, Seaton McLean, Michael Souther

Genres

Comedy, Drama

Interest

Sports

Original Language

English

Il était une fois les boys (When We Were Boys)

Director Richard Goudreau
Year 2013
Run Time 106min
Genre Comedy
In French Canada and abroad, the series of films spawned from Les Boys is both beloved by audiences and box offices alike. But the title garçons in Les Boys are hardly young dudes at all — they’re grown men!

In this original, fun and hilarious prequel set in 1965, we find Les Boys as they originally were: hardy teenagers. Dreaming of victory in the Holiday tournament, the team is on Christmas vacation, but it’s anything but a restful experience: they have goals to make and trophies to win.

Full of wonderful highs and lows that evoke the rollercoaster experience of adolescence, When We Were Boys is a rare thing in cinema: a terrific and successful prequel.

Director

Richard Goudreau

Writer

Richard Goudreau

Cast

Simon Pigeon, Derek Poissant, Maxime Desjardins-Tremblay, Samuel Gauthier

Producers

Michel Gauthier, Richard Goudreau, André Rouleau

Genre

Comedy

Interest

Sports

Original Language

French