The Toronto Documentary Forum concluded on a high note Thursday when Canwest commissioning editor Sara Jane Flynn handed the $40,000 prize for best Canadian pitch to White Pine Pictures for its project The Team.

In his pitch, veteran producer Peter Raymont (Shake Hands with the Devil, The Border) promised that The Team would be ‘a refreshing film shot in Africa without the usual stereotypes: no skulls, no starving children with flies in their eyes, no passive victims and no white savior.’

The entertaining trailer directed by Patrick Reed (Triage: Dr. James Orbinski’s Humanitarian Dilemma) set out the doc’s unusual premise. In order to reduce ongoing tribal tensions in Kenya, a TV soap has been created about a fictional soccer team made up of members of all ethnic sides of the country. Reed and Raymont’s doc will cover the making of the show and the effect it has on civil strife in the east African country and its capital, Nairobi.

The response — introduced by Cara Mertes of the Sundance Documentary Institute, the film’s major funder thus far — was overwhelmingly positive.

Catherine Olsen of CBC Newsworld called it ‘a fantastic project… [that] will show how our medium can have an impact on the world.’ Yukari Kawamura of NHK Japan noted that the project ‘combines Africa and soccer’ just in time for next year’s World Cup, while Tabitha Jackson of Channel 4 enthused, ‘it’s a compelling story with a good message tucked in.’

Voting for the Canwest/Hot Docs award was restricted to international broadcasters to eliminate any hint of favoritism by domestic editors for particular producers.

‘I’m thrilled,’ commented Reed, moments after receiving the news. ‘The $40,000 will fund our next shoot in Kenya, which is absolutely essential to the film.’ He is also confident that money will be coming from some of the broadcasters who were so positive about the film during the pitch.

Reed left the last word to his producer, Raymont, who beamed while commenting, ‘I’m rushing off to the bank to cash our cheque before Canwest succumbs to oblivion.’