''Hurt'' is a 2015 Canadian documentary film, directed by
Alan Zweig
Alan Zweig is a Canadian documentary filmmaker known for often using film to explore his own life.
Early life
Alan Zweig was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario and has worked in the film industry as a writer, producer, director, driver, and a ...
. The film explores the troubled life of
Steve Fonyo, the Canadian amputee athlete who completed a cross-Canada run that was known as the "Journey for Lives" to raise funds for
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
research in 1984 and 1985.
The film showcases Fonyo's resilience, not only the kind that kept an 18-year-old cancer survivor running the equivalent of a half marathon a day for 400 days for 7924 km. In addition to his 400-day run, the movie also depicts the downfalls of his life, including cocaine addiction, excessive drinking, surviving East Hastings, numerous stints in jail, having his prosthetic leg stolen, and being beaten and stabbed multiple times.
In 2017, Zweig released a sequel, ''Hope'', which picks up from where ''Hurt'' left off, chronicling Fonyo's recovery.
Awards
The film won the
Platform Prize The Platform Prize is an annual film award, presented by the Toronto International Film Festival to films of "high artistic merit that also demonstrate a strong directorial vision."[2015 Toronto International Film Festival
The 40th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 September 2015. On 28 July 2015 the first wave of films to be screened at the Festival was announced. Jean-Marc Vallée's '' Demolition'' starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Na ...]
. In December, the film was announced as part of TIFF's annual Canada's Top Ten screening series of the ten best Canadian films of the year.
At the
4th Canadian Screen Awards in 2016, ''Hurt'' won the award for
Best Feature Length Documentary.
[Liz Braun, "Room sweeps Canadian Screen awards; CBC comedy Schitt's Creek dominates the television prizes". '']Toronto Sun
The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...
'', March 14, 2016.
References
External links
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2015 films
Canadian documentary films
Films directed by Alan Zweig
2015 documentary films
Documentary films about sportspeople with disability
Films about amputees
Best Documentary Film Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners
2010s English-language films
2010s Canadian films
English-language Canadian films
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