Curling and teen life collide in Canadian documentary 'Curl Power'
The combination of teenagers and curling might seem an odd pairing for a documentary, but "Curl Power" weaves rocks and rings into a coming-of-age story.
Curling is the tie that binds five young women together as they navigate ambition, anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia, sex, a mother's breast cancer diagnosis, what to do with their lives after they graduate high school and the impending separation graduation brings.
"Teenagers are weird," says Hannah Smeed, one of the documentary's subjects.
"They're not kids and they're not adults. A lot of us are overlooked as people, really, which is similar to curling. Nobody really gives curling a second look, but like, curling is cool."
The 86-minute film, made with financing from Telus, debuted at Toronto's Hot Docs festival in 2024.
"Curl Power" is scheduled for theatrical release Friday when it will be shown in 73 theatres across Canada from Victoria to Halifax.
The film follows Smeed, Brook Aleksic, Sav Miley, Ashley Dezura and Amy Wheatcroft and their curling team from Maple Ridge, B.C., from 2019 to 2023 as they age from 14 to 18.
Director Josephine Anderson gave recreational curling a try at the Vancouver Curling Club in 2018.
"I was kind of blown away by how lovely the sport is and the community," she said.
"At the same time, I was interested in making a coming-of-age film at the time, and sort of thought what would happen if I mash these two unsuspecting ideas together?"
She spent hours talking on the phone with the teenagers, and three mom-coaches, to make them comfortable with both her and the camera recording intimate moments in their homes.
"Mainstream culture often makes teenage girls feel like their opinions aren't that consequential," Anderson said. "For a