…Millions of Fans, One Unforgettable Summer. The Tragically Hip’s Historic Tour Immortalized in New Documentary from Bell Media
The Tragically Hip’s 2016 epic cross-Canada tour, culminating in a highly charged and powerful concert in their hometown of Kingston, Ont., captured the heart of the country. Bell Media is teaming up with Canada’s foremost chroniclers of popular music, Banger Films, in association with Shed Creative (a division of Universal Music Canada), and one of the country’s most celebrated documentary filmmaking teams, Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier, to take viewers on-stage, in the crowd and behind-the-scenes of this historic tour. Commissioned by Bell Media and coming to multiple Bell Media channels and platforms in 2017, MAN MACHINE POEM (working title) is a feature documentary that follows The Tragically Hip’s momentous cross-country tour after the band’s announcement that lead singer Gord Downie has incurable brain cancer.
The documentary event special will premiere exclusively across an array of Bell Media TV and on-demand platforms, including national pay service The Movie Network, leading specialty channel MUCH, and to a mass audience on Canada’s most-watched network, CTV, before moving exclusively to CraveTV.
“We are incredibly honoured to share this amazing moment in Canadian history with the band and viewers across the country,” said Randy Lennox, President, Broadcasting and Content, Bell Media. “MAN MACHINE POEM comes from a dream team behind the camera and we know they’ll show Canada a side of The Hip we’ve never seen before.”
“We have filmed hundreds of hours of footage from the tour and beyond,” said Scot McFadyen, co-founder of Banger Films. “This stands to be a powerful cinematic music doc that captures a nation’s love for a band whose music and lyrics embody the Canadian spirit.”
From visceral celebration of performances where the whole arena jumped in unison, to singular moments of appreciation, grief, and love, viewers will be given a unique perspective on this ambitious arena tour, which sold out in minutes, as well as the reactions from their devoted fans.
In stunning 4K, MAN MACHINE POEM will include select performances from the Man Machine Poem tour that took the band from Victoria, B.C. to Kingston, Ont., as they played close to 90 different songs from their albums through the years – a unique selection for each concert.
Capturing these iconic performances and the profound reactions from fans, the documentary encourages viewers to stop and reflect on the shared experience and collective appreciation for this music that somehow embodies what it means to be Canadian. MAN MACHINE POEM is the definitive document of The Hip’s final tour.
MAN MACHINE POEM (working title) is directed by Canadian documentary filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier (Manufactured Landscapes, Act of God, Watermark), and produced by Scot McFadyen (RUSH: BEYOND THE LIGHTED STAGE) and Sam Dunn (METAL: A HEADBANGER’S JOURNEY), in association with Shed Creative (a division of Universal Music Canada). Music Consultant is Tyson Parker, Bell Media. Production Executive is Robin Johnston, Bell Media. Corrie Coe is Senior Vice-President, Independent Production, Bell Media. Mike Cosentino is Senior Vice-President, CTV and Specialty, Bell Media. Tracey Pearce is President, Distribution and Pay, Bell Media. Randy Lennox is President, Broadcasting and Content, Bell Media. Elevation Pictures Corp. will distribute the film internationally and is planning a special theatrical release in Canada next year.
