Richard Crouse

TURTLE ISLAND RAP (Friday September 11) A candid look at the lives and career journeys of three aspiring Indigenous hip-hop artists, Wiidaaseh, A$h Da Hunter, and Travis Thompson, this verité-style feature documentary is an up-close-and-personal look at their lives personally and professionally. Raw and immediate, it’s a vivid portrait of artists on the cusp, balancing real life—–struggling to pay rent, difficult relationships and anxiety—while building and audience and community within the confines of the music industry.

BEING HEUMANN (Friday September 11): “Being Heumann” tells the undeniably important story of a disabled activist named Judy Heumann, and the powerful story of how she spearheaded the 1977 Section 504 sit-in, which resulted in the federal government of the United States giving more rights and privileges to disabled people. The filmmaking could have used a bit more grit and a little less made-for-television style, but the story is undeniably affecting.

SMUDGE THE BLADES (Saturday September 12): Breathing the same underdog air as “The Bad News Bears” and “The Mighty Ducks,” “Smudge the Blades” is the story of an all-Indigenous hockey team knocked down to a rural league and their Zamboni-driver-turned-coach. Raunchy yet heartfelt, writer, director and star Cody Lightning rides the line between hockey flicks like foul-mouthed “Slapstick” and the inspiring “Miracle.” Like most good sports dramas it boils down to one big game, but it’s not about the score, it’s about the sense of community among the players and their personal growth.

I PLAY ROCKY (Saturday September 12): An inspirational story about an inspirational movie, “I play Rocky” is an audience friendly look at Sylvester Stallone‘s early life and journey to get his script for Rocky produced, with the stipulation that he play the title character. An entertaining underdog tale, it features the great casting of Anthony Ippolito in the lead, and Tracey lets as a skeptical studio executive. It captures the spirit of the 1976 original film, even if it leans into sentimentality and exposition. It’s not a reinvention of the original story or movie or biopic, it’s simply a crowd-pleasing reminder of a true underdog phenomenon.

THE DEBUT (Sunday September 13): The sometimes hilarious, occasionally heartbreaking story of Mona (Julianne Moore), a repressed suburban housewife who finds a sense of purpose in community theatre, is a tribute to the power of art to change lives. Mona discovers the theatre community provides the kind of support she doesn’t get at home and Moore digs deep, letting her freak flag fly to deliver laughs and a sense that Mona’s journey is not only life changing, but life sustaining.