Identity and Belonging
Thousands of students across the country are joining together for RCtv, a highly interactive livestream centred around the brand new high-stakes coming-of-age hockey drama, Youngblood. The live broadcast on April 15th will be hosted by programmer and filmmaker Aisha Jamal, with a discussion featuring the film’s director Hubert Davis and star Ashton James.
EVENT DETAILS
If you’re an educator and would like to participate in the livestream, you can learn more and register at reelcanada.ca/RCtvYoungblood.
This event also has dedicated curriculum-based lesson plans, and is available for free to all high school teachers across the country. We also have a whole slate of free educational programming for schools across the country, with films for Kindergarten through to Grade 12, in English and French. Learn more at reelcanada.ca/education/national-canadian-film-day.
Special Guests
Director of Youngblood
Hubert Davis is an award-winning filmmaker whose short films include Academy Award–nominated Hardwood, Aruba, and Rivolta, which won a Cannes Film Lion. He directed the documentaries Invisible City, Giants of Africa, and Black Ice, which won the People’s Choice Documentary Award at TIFF. His feature films include Youngblood, which premiered at TIFF in 2025, and The Well.
Star of Youngblood
An alumnus of the CBC Actors Conservatory, Ashton James has appeared in episodes of The Boys, Five Days at Memorial, Beyond Black Beauty, Law & Order: Toronto, Netflix’s The Madness, and Revenge of the Black Best Friend, which earned him a Canadian Screen Award nomination. He also starred in the indie features Boxcutter, which premiered at SXSW 2025, and Youngblood, which premiered at TIFF in 2025.
Host
Aisha Jamal is an accomplished filmmaker, programmer, and educator based in Toronto, whose films have played venues and festivals worldwide. Exploring themes of human connection and resilience, Aisha’s feature film debut, A Kandahar Away, explores her family’s ties to the small Saskatchewan community of Kandahar. Her short films include the award-winning The Long Way Home and Seeds of the Past. Her latest documentary feature is called The Theft and is premiering on TVO in April.