The Cinematheque

In Person: Kevan Funk

Emily Carr University alumnus Kevan Funk’s beautifully-detailed debut feature was one of last year’s best Canadian films. Offering a timely and uncompromising look at institutionalized violence in our national sport, it treats with intelligence and sensitivity themes of work, masculinity, competition, and failure, and has a great eye and ear for the flavours of small-town Canadian life. Jared Abrahamson is junior hockey player Tyson Burr, a new recruit skating for the Prince George Warriors. Ty has no illusions about his role on the team: he’s an enforcer, tasked with protecting more skilled players and dropping the gloves to fight when necessary. But when his actions on the ice grievously injure an opponent, Ty discovers that he has become a liability and a pariah. Cinematographer Ben Loeb’s moody, evocative, well-judged images made a significant contribution to the impact of Funk’s rigorous, affecting film.