Smudge the Blades hits the ice

Rylie Perry, Arts Editor 

In an era of hot and heated hockey adaptations, one Indigenous film cuts through the noise. 

Closing out the Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF), Smudge the Blades follows the Treaty 6 Blades, a struggling U-18 hockey team, as they battle to find a place amongst the Northern Alberta hockey leagues. 

Led by their begrudging coach, played by director Cody Lightning, the Treaty 6 Blades are the underdog team that just won’t quit. 

Rather than shying away from the challenges faced by Indigenous communities, the film illustrates the ups and downs that accompany life on the reservation, bringing a raw hilariousness to a harsher reality.  

The second feature film from Lightning, who made his debut with Hey, Viktor! in 2023, Smudge the Blades premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September before making its way to Calgary.  

This year, CIFF ran from Sept. 24 to Oct. 4, with Smudge the Blades marking the festival’s end. The film was among a number of special Spotlight+ films that accompanied the festival’s typical lineup of short and feature films. 

Filmmaking on home turf

Lightning, a member of the Samson-Cree First Nation in Treaty 6 territory, considers his sophomore film an amalgamation of his experiences, both good and bad. 

“This one really came from personal home experience,” Lightning says. “I’m a hockey player, and I coached for years, and that’s where a lot of the characters, the storyline, and everything came from.”

Filmed on Treaty 6 territory, the film is as much an ode to hockey as it is to Lightning’s community, which, for him, includes many of the young, first-time actors who starred in the film. 

“I help these boys (the cast) the same way that people helped me and my family when I was growing up, and that’s now my job too,” he says. “I was given this gift of storytelling and filmmaking, and I use it, and then I have to give it back.”

All roads lead to hockey

For Lightning, the film’s authenticity is rooted in a real depiction of sport, which was a non-negotiable part of the filmmaking process. 

“I cast hockey players before acting, so they’re all hockey boys,” Lightning explains. “I didn’t cast actors and teach them how to play hockey, but anyone that knows sports knows that if you can coach a sport, you can coach acting as well.”

River Rayne Thomas, who plays the enforcing defender Damon Buffalo, is a fellow member of Treaty 6 territory from the Saulteaux First Nation and a hockey player through and through. 

Also known for his work in the 2024 film Rez Ball, Rayne Thomas cites the most fun and rewarding part of this filmmaking process as becoming a family with the rest of the cast through hockey, which, for them, was a daily part of shooting and integral to the storytelling. 

Logistically, however, the process of getting the cast into skates and onto the ice for 10 hours a day was more than they bargained for, says Producer Kyle Thomas. 

“We wanted the hockey to be real in this movie, and we didn’t want to have to bring in stunt doubles. But if I were to do this again, I’d probably get a physiotherapist,” he jokes. 

No holds barred

Hockey aside, Rayne Thomas explains that the heart of the film lies in its storytelling through a real Indigenous lens, which is refreshing in today’s film landscape. 

“We tell our own story, no holds barred,” he says. “Some audiences may say it’s too negative, but that’s our story. It is going to be an uncomfortable truth for a lot of people.”