Headwinds
Manuel Camia
Official selection
Eoin Duffy’s animated documentary follows Canadian footballer Christine Sinclair, connecting her career with family, national-team life and equality in sport.
- Director
- Eoin Duffy
- Country
- Canada
- Running time
- 00:08:00
Full film
Watch on YouTube (new tab)How can an athletic career be told through animation? Directed by Eoin Duffy, Christine Sinclair: Kind of a Big Deal follows the Canadian footballer from personal memories to the national team, connecting matches with family relationships and the way a captain leads her team.
The film moves through the disappointment of 2011, the rebuilding of the squad and the journey towards Olympic gold in Tokyo. It also makes room for discussions of equality in women’s football, linking Sinclair’s career to the conditions in which she and her teammates played.
Family has a place in the portrait alongside the dressing room and the pitch. The director has described narrowing extensive biographical research to a few moments that emerged from interviewing Sinclair; animation director Henrique Barone describes different visual approaches for matches and memories.
Its makers describe developing the story in part from Sinclair’s autobiography and an interview with the player. The animation changes approach between scenes of play and family memories; the original version is narrated by Ryan Reynolds. The Canadian short runs for approximately eight minutes.
