The Crave series Heated Rivalry will make its world premiere this month at the 38th edition of Image+Nation Festival Film LGBT2Squeer Montreal (I+N38).

The LGBTQ+ film festival, which runs from Nov. 20 to 30, will host a red-carpet premiere for the first episode on Nov. 23, with cast members in attendance. The first two episodes will stream on Crave the following Friday, Nov. 28.

First unveiled at the Bell Media upfront this summer, the 6 x 60-minute romantic drama (pictured) is written and directed by Canadian filmmaker Jacob Tierney (Letterkenny), based on the Harlequin book series Game Changers by Rachel Reid.

Set in the world of men’s professional hockey, the series traces the secret, years-long love affair between two star players, who must ultimately decide whether the fiercely competitive world they have dedicated themselves to has room for their love.

The cast is led by Vancouver-based Hudson Williams (Allegiance) and U.S. actor Connor Storrie (Joker: Folie à Deux). The supporting cast includes Canadians François Arnaud (The Borgias), Robbie G.K. (The Next Step), Sophie Nélisse (Two Women) and Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova (The Boys), as well as U.S. actors Christina Chang (The Good Doctor) and Dylan Walsh (Blue Bloods).

Tierney and Brendan Brady are producers and EPs on the series under their Accent Aigu Entertainment banner. Lori Fischburg is also a producer, with Reid serving as consulting producer. Sphere Abacus is handling international distribution.

Prior to the Heated Rivalry premiere, I+N38 will kick off on Nov. 20 with the opening night presentation of Gail Maurice’s Blood Lines (Assini Productions, Devonshire Productions, Night Market). The Indigenous-themed romance, which was pre-bought by CBC and Crave, made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September.

Other Canadian features screening as part of the festival include Bretten Hannam’s Sk+te’kmujue’katik (At the Place of Ghosts) (Mazewalker Films, Shut Up & Colour Pictures, Prospero Pictures, Beluga Tree); the Indigi-queer musical Starwalker (Urban Ink Productions), from Playback 10 to Watch alum Corey Payette; and Xiaodan He’s Montreal, My Beautiful (Les Films Camera Obscura, Red Dawn Productions), which recently won the top Canadian film prize at the Windsor International Film Festival.

Image courtesy of Bell Media