Hurt

In this honest look at the mythmaking of heroes and what later becomes of them, acclaimed documentary filmmaker Alan Zweig profiles Steve Fonyo, a man who ran across Canada at the age of 19 after losing a leg to cancer, following in the footsteps of Terry Fox, and raising millions of dollars for cancer research while doing so.

Although his charity marathon in 1984 was a glorious success, his subsequent exploits — precarious jobs and petty crimes —find him in a state of financial ruin in one of Canada’s toughest neighbourhoods. The unbelievable run that became his life’s greatest achievement is now a crushing burden.

Zweig’s rare and sensitive portrait of a complex one-time hero won the inaugural Platform prize at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.