Josephine Anderson’s uplifting documentary follows the 4KGirl$, a teenage curling team from the suburb of Maple Ridge, BC. Hannah, Brook, Amy, Ashley, and Savannah are a hardworking, tight-knit group of friends who strive to become Canadian Junior Curling Champions. Coached by three of their mothers, who are former Olympians, the girls navigate the uncertainties of their teen years — from self-esteem and body image issues to anxiety, depression, breakups, and the major transition that high school graduation entails — but see each other through it all.
Buoyed by an upbeat soundtrack and intimate camerawork, Curl Power preserves a heartwarming time capsule of its teenage subjects’ rich interior lives: their moments of levity, growth, and candid self-reflection as they test their mettle in a quintessentially Canadian sport. Highlights include mother and daughter Diane and Ashley’s profoundly touching commentary on coping with the emotional upheaval of a breast cancer experience, and the comfort to be found in quality time bonding over a shared special interest in curling.
Oct 3: Q&A with director Josephine Anderson; producer Mike Johnston; and Brook Aleksic, Diane Dezura & Sav Miley
Oct 5: Q&A with director Josephine Anderson; producer Mike Johnston; and Brook Aleksic, Diane Dezura, Hannah Smeed & Sav Miley
Presented by
Media Partner
Brooklyn Aleksic, Hannah Smeed, Savannah Miley, Amy Wheatcroft, Ashley Dezura
Canada
2024
English
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Mike Johnston, Josephine Anderson
Producer
Mike Johnston, Josephine Anderson
Screenwriter
Josephine Anderson
Cinematography
Claire Sanford
Editor
Alex Bohs
Original Music
Jesse Zubot, Josh Zubot
Josephine Anderson
Josephine Anderson is a Canadian documentary filmmaker known for her intimate, sensorial, and imaginative work exploring themes of time, irreverence, yearning, and female experience. Josephine’s work has been shown at festivals worldwide including Tribeca and IDFA, and exhibited by The New Yorker, CBC, and the National Film Board of Canada. Josephine is a Berlinale Talent Campus alumna and a former Board Director for the Documentary Organization of Canada. Curl Power is her debut feature.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
American Doctor
One of the most powerful documentaries of the year, this puts us smack in the open wound that is Gaza, filtered through the eyes of three American surgeons (of Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian backgrounds) compelled to do their utmost to alleviate harm.
The Last Picture Shows
Rustin Thompson journeys into the American West on a search for traces of what was once a center of small-town life: the movie theater. Despite the struggles of recent times, he also discovers inspiring stories of hope and community.
All the Lovers in the Night
A lonely proofreader's isolated world begins to open through an unlikely friendship with a gentle physics teacher. Based on Mieko Kawakami's acclaimed novel, this luminous drama is a delicate meditation on loneliness, intimacy, and self-discovery.
Clarissa
Arie and Chuko Esiri’s Clarissa brings Mrs. Dalloway to present-day Lagos, with Sophie Okonedo playing the titular society hostess opposite David Oyelowo, Ayo Edebiri, and India Amarteifio in a Nigerian vision of class, privilege, and past lives.
Image: © Courtesy of Elevation Pictures