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CSFF 2021

Canadian Sport film Festival

CSFF 2021

The 13th annual Canadian Sport Film Festival CSFF 2021 was presented virtually from May 14-16, 2021.

CSFF was proud to present the Canadian Premiere of the feature documentary A Most Beautiful Thing, plus two short films about rowing.

Find links to festival bonus content below: 

Thanks to our generous sponsors and partners for making CSFF 2021 possible.

Check out this news story about our 2021 screening sponsor Hudson Boat Works.

A crew of rowers in a boat on a river in the early morning sunlight. Bridge in the foreground. From the feature doc A Most Beautiful Thing.

A Most Beautiful Thing‘ chronicles the first African American public high school rowing team in the US, made up of young men, many of whom were in rival gangs from the West Side of Chicago.

Based on the memoir of team captain, Arshay Cooper, and narrated by award-winning artist Common, this movie explores the trauma of violence and cyclical poverty, examining how these young men were able to support each other in reimagining a different future for themselves.

After 20 years in the boat, the men reunite to celebrate the team’s founding and race together one more time.

“Stay strong. Be true. Go the distance.”

2020, Documentary, United States
95 minutes

Director: Mary Mazzio  50 Eggs Films

More on A Most Beautiful Thing

They say it takes a village to raise a child. But it takes an extraordinary village to raise a pair of Olympians. Meet the O’Donovan brothers, who catapulted to international fame after Rio 2016, and the endearing residents of the town of Skibbereen.

2018, Documentary, United Kingdom & Ireland
14 minutes

Directors: Johnny Madderson & Jono Stevens

In a loving dedication to her late father, Wendy shares the beauty and elegance of the sport of rowing as this crew of ordinary women enjoy some fun and exercise on a midsummer row.

2017, Documentary, Canada
2 minutes

Director: Empty Cup Media

CSFF in Conversation

Watch the CSFF Q&A with:

Arshay Cooper, star of the film ‘A Most Beautiful Thing’ and author of the memoir on which the film is based.

Interviewed by world champion hurdler, TV host and author, Perdita Felicien.

Introduction by 2021 Canadian National Team Athlete (rowing), Victoria Nolan.

CSFF Live Q&A

Watch the CSFF Live Q&A with:

Arshay Cooper, author and star of the film ‘A Most Beautiful Thing’, and 

Kubet Weston, four-time World Championship medalist and physiotherapist, and the first Black rower on the Canadian Olympic Team. 

Interviewed by multi-platform journalist and sports activist, Shireen Ahmed.

Thanks to our CSFF 2021 Sponsors & Partners

The Canadian Sport Film Festival is grateful to our sponsors and partners for making CSFF 2021 possible.

Thanks for your support!

harbord street bia
wright real estate
Hudson
row ontario
regatta sports logo
nothers
apropops
medpoint
evergreen digital marketing

CSFF In the News

News story about our CSFF 2021 Screening Sponsor Hudson Boat Works

The London Free Press – May 25, 2021