When writer-director Stephan Peterson bought a ticket to watch a wrestling match during production on a TV series in northern Manitoba in 2016, he was unaware he was about to get a glimpse of what’s known as the Canadian Death Tour.

The death tour takes place every winter, with wrestlers from Winnipeg and beyond travelling through remote Indigenous communities to compete in matches over three weeks.

The experience would spark an eight-year journey to make Peterson’s debut feature documentary The Death Tour, which is set for its world premiere on Friday (Jan. 19) at the Slamdance Film Festival in Utah.

That process saw the production team attend numerous markets to pitch the film: twice at the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) and Hot Docs, as well as DokFest Munich, the Banff World Media Festival, the Australian International Documentary Conference, and at the Marché du Film market at Cannes when the film was in the editing phase.

It also required several broadcast partners to complete funding, the film’s producer Stacey Tenenbaum tells Playback Daily. Those partners include Canadian specialty channel The Fight Network, CBC Quebec, CBC Manitoba, CBC North, and APTN.

The Death Tour documents the grueling annual northern Canada indie wrestling tour and its impact on remote Indigenous communities. The film is co-directed by Swampy Cree filmmaker Sonya Ballantyne. Tenenbaum produced through her H2L Productions banner alongside Loaded Pictures’ Sergeo Kirby. Wrestling star Chris Jericho is attached as an executive producer.

After his first taste of the tour in 2016, Peterson knew there was a film there: a wrestling doc. He got permission from the tour’s promoter Tony Condello to film the tour in 2018 and created a demo.

Peter brought the demo to H2L and Loaded Pictures, and Tenenbaum and Kirby came on board as producers the following year. In 2020, the Fight Network, owned by Anthem Sports and Entertainment, put the project in development.

But when Peterson went to shoot a second demo, he realized that there was a very strong community angle to the film. He also experienced the suicide epidemic among Indigenous youth and how it impacted communities, including some of the wrestlers who are part of those communities. As a result, the production team is also working on an impact strategy to raise awareness of the epidemic.

“That’s when the film really pivoted and ended up becoming something far more than just about wrestling,” says Peterson, adding that the focus shifted to highlight the lives of the people in the communities the tour visited, and the impact of these interactions, as well as the issues they face.

The narrative pivot also triggered discussions within the production team about the need for a co-director.

“As producers, we knew that we wanted to have an Indigenous co-director and specifically someone who came from those communities and had that sense of place,” recalls Tenenbaum.

Ballantyne initially declined the offer, but says she was convinced only when it was clear that this was not another “stereotypical” wrestling film and “how much people wanted to focus on the Indigenous aspect of the story,” coming on board in 2021. And, because of her deep passion for wrestling, she also served as a wrestling consultant.

The project also got a shot in the arm that same year when wrestling fans Raven Banner Releasing signed on for theatrical distribution in Canada.

The company was “immediately drawn to the unique story of The Death Tour,” according to Raven Banner’s managing partner Michael Paszt. The project also received development funding from CBC North and CBC Manitoba.

The following year, CBC Quebec, CBC Manitoba and CBC North came in with production funding for a first window while APTN signed a second window deal. It was around the same time that the project received funding via the Canada Media Fund’s POV Program.

“We cobbled together all of these little licenses, but it’s really expensive to film up north. And we found that out pretty quick. So we closed on a lower budget,” says Tenenbaum.

Tenenbaum credits associate producer Chaz Beaudette for coming up with the idea to connect with wrestling superstar Jericho, who grew up in Winnipeg, and had done a death tour and made documentary films before. Jericho signed on as executive producer in 2023.

“It made a lot of sense and he brought a lot to the film; gave feedback into the wrestling aspects of things and the psychology of being on a tour. He also had good notes on cuts of the film,” she says, adding that Jericho has been doing a lot of publicity for the film.

The Death Tour finally went to camera last February (the tour’s 50th year), and in August it received a funding boost via Telefilm Canada’s Theatrical Documentary Program, which allowed the team to raise the budget. In the end the overall budget came to nearly $1 million.

The team also faced challenges of their own, including battling self-doubt, being on the move in waist-deep snow, and eating military-style ready-to-eat meals. Access to communities was also a challenge as many had their own COVID-19 protocols.

“I certainly felt the pressure of filming an entire feature in two weeks without really having any time to sit back, reflect, watch footage and pivot. It was a one-shot deal,” says Peterson.

Securing U.S. distribution is a big goal at the festival for the filmmaking team, with Raven Banner planning to release the film in Canada day-and-date with a U.S. partner.

But Ballantyne says, while the film’s premiere at the festival is a proud moment, “I really want people from the north to be able to come down and watch it in the theatre.”

The Slamdance Film Festival runs from Jan. 19 to 25 in Park City and Salt Lake City, and virtually on the Slamdance Channel from Jan. 22 to 28.

Photo by Van Royko