'It has been medicine for me': New documentary reveals transformative power of northern wrestling tour
CBC
Director Stephan Peterson was working on a shoot in the northern Manitoba community of Wasagamack in the winter of 2016 when, as he was hunkering down for the evening one night after work, he got word:
Wrestling was in town.
"I bought a ticket and took a seat right as the first match began," the Montreal-based director said.
He watched rapt as wrestling heels and heroes whipped up the exuberant crowd into a frenzy with their theatrics and athleticism in the ring.
He was witnessing "the Death Tour," and it changed his life.
That night at ringside, inspiration struck and a documentary idea was born.
Eight years later, the documentary The Death Tour — about the gruelling winter wrestling tour in remote northern Manitoba communities — comes to screens in Winnipeg (and at select cities across Canada).
The film, which Peterson directed, captures the heart and heartache, and the punishment and pride a small group of core wrestlers experience on the indie wrestling tour. More than a wrestling film, The Death Tour reveals how wrestling can heal broken people, inside and outside the ring.
The Death Tour is a co-production between H2L Productions and Loaded Pictures for CBC's Absolutely Canadian. Pro wrestler Chris Jericho (who is from Winnipeg) also appears in the film and was its executive producer.
The Death Tour will stream free on CBC Gem starting Aug. 23, and has its debut Winnipeg screening on Aug. 9 at 7 p.m. at the Dave Barber Cinematheque.
For the uninitiated, the Death Tour is a legendary wrestling tour with a 50-plus year legacy. Organized by wrestling promoter Tony Condello, the multi-community tour is a relentless, gruelling test of endurance.
The tour is renowned in wrestling circles as a proving ground on the indie circuit. Wrestlers endure long drives on ice roads, sleep on gym floors and scrape together meals amidst high food costs in the north.
In the documentary, the tour is paused after unexpected deaths cause communities to shut down to mourn. The wrestlers themselves grapple with those losses and the struggles they also witness in the remote communities they visit.
Capturing those moments made the documentary more than a wrestling film — a distinction that was essential for co-director Sonya Ballantyne.
