Skip to main content
Mareya Shot, Keetah Goal: Make the Shot film image

Mareya Shot, Keetha Goal: Make the Shot

This event has passed

World Premiere

From local co-directors Baljit Sangra (Because We Are Girls) and Nilesh Patel, this spirited documentary follows four junior hockey players of South Asian descent throughout the 2021-2022 season as they strive to be drafted into the NHL. Arjun Bawa and Kayden Sadhra-Kang skate in the footsteps of their father Robin Bawa, who made history in 1989 as the first South Asian to play in the NHL. Meanwhile, seasoned defenseman Arvin Atwal seeks to shed the fighter reputation he acquired in the American Hockey League by transferring to Slovakia. And, in an uplifting turn of events, the film traces the journey of Surrey’s own Arshdeep Bains to signing with the Vancouver Canucks. The passion for Canada’s national sport is contagious as Coach Harbs Bains— owner of the Lake Cowichan Kraken and past president of the Surrey Minor Hockey Association— and Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi Edition commentator Harnarayan Singh unpack the revolutionary, life-changing power of diverse representation on screen and on ice: “Mareya shot, keetah goal!”

 

October 2 & 7: Q&A with directors Baljit Sangra & Nilesh Patel & crew

 

Series Media Partner

Directors
Cast

Harbz Bains, Arshdeep Bains, Arvin Athwal, Robin Bawa, Harnarayan Singh

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2023

Series

Insights

Language

English

Content Warning

Coarse Language, Violence

PG
72 min
Documentary Women Directors

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits

Executive Producer

Selwyn Jacob

Producer

Baljit Sangra, Nilesh Patel

Screenwriter

Baljit Sangra

Cinematography

Eva Brownstein

Editor

John Adams, Kirk Moses, Jessica Dymond

Original Music

Ruby Singh

Directors

Baljit Sangra headshot

Baljit Sangra

Baljit Sangra is an award-winning documentary filmmaker known for her commitment to amplifying the voices of marginalized communities. Her latest feature reunites her with Coach Harbs Bains and ice hockey player Arvin Atwal, seven years after she directed them in Hockey United, about South Asian hockey dreams in Canada. She directed the NFB-produced Because We Are Girls, which explored the impact of sexual abuse on a Punjabi family living in BC. With over 18 million minutes viewed on Amazon, the film continues its social impact worldwide. Baljit helms Viva Mantra Films.

Filmography: Because We Are Girls (2019)

Nilesh Patel headshot

Nilesh Patel

For over two decades, Nilesh Patel has dedicated himself to telling the stories of us coming together. As the driving force behind Roaming Pictures, he champions marginalized talents in the film and television realm. His debut, 7 to 11 Indian, was broadcast nationally in 2004. His acclaimed award winning documentary Brocket99 – Rockin’ the Country, preserved in Canada’s National Archive, boldly delved into Canadian racism. Presently, Nilesh, a Concordia MFA alumni, is producing a slate of films through his company Roaming Pictures while continuing to advocate for racial equity in our media landscape.

Filmography: Brocket99: Rockin’ the Country (2006)

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Dir. Mike Nichols
131 min

A young couple accept an invitation for a nightcap with history professor George (Richard Burton) and his wife Martha (Elizabeth Taylor). At first it's fun and games. But what passes for caustic wit soon degenerates into vicious mind games.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Drop Dead City
Drop Dead City film image; someone holding a newspaper up in front of a brick wall

Drop Dead City

Dir. Michael Rohatyn & Peter Yost
108 min

New York, 1975. The city is minutes away from bankruptcy and President Gerald Ford wants no part of it. Sanitation workers are on strike and cops are telling tourists it's not safe to visit. The town is going up in flames and they can't pay the firemen.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Shall We Dance?

Dir. Masayuki Suô
137 min

Masayuki Suô's delightful and charming 1996 film was a box office smash and won 14 Japanese Academy Awards including Best Film. It's the story of a married salaryman who falls in love with... dance.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

In the Mood for Love

Dir. Wong Kar-wai
107 min

Wong Kar-wai's most acclaimed and popular film is a love story about two neighbours (Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung) who are drawn together by the long absences of their respective spouses + a newly released short companion piece from 2001.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Georgia O'Keeffe: the Brightness of Light
Georgia O’Keeffe: The Brightness of Light film image; painted reds, pinks, oranges, and yellows that combine to look like a flower

Georgia O'Keeffe: the Brightness of Light

Dir. Paul Wagner
118 min

Drawing on her copious correspondence and the world's leading scholars, this is a definitive documentary on the life and work of "the mother of American Modernism."

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Familiar Touch

Dir. Sarah Friedland
90 min

A loving portrait of an octogenarian transitioning into an assisted living facility, this award-winning first feature by choreographer Sarah Friedland has a simplicity and warmth that's exceptionally poignant.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre