It’s always a joy to see a documentary at any festival about the fan community and what makes them tick. THE HOBBY screened at this year’s South By Southwest Film & TV Festival and what excited me the most is that it’s a Canadian produced documentary. I travelled all the way down from Canada to cover a Canadian movie, how about that?
ABOUT: From the World Series of Board Games on the Vegas strip and dating back to ancient Mesopotamia, “The Hobby” is an affectionate, character-driven portrait of the massive and diverse subculture of board games. With a fascinating cast of charming subjects – including the “Roger Ebert of board games”, a rock-climbing board game philosopher, and a birdwatcher who created an unlikely smash hit – players share personal stories of competition, compulsion, creativity, and connection. “The Hobby” explores the value of leisure time and uncovers the deep meaning found in “meaningless” pursuits.
Jason’s Reaction: One of the best moments out of any SxSW documentary this year comes right at the start of THE HOBBY, a lovely doc about the World Series of Board Games that take place in Vegas. One subject remarks about how famous he is JUST as this event, but is totally unrecognizable outside of the arena and can go on with his life. I loved this reaction and it really made me think, as it truly shows just how many different forms of conventions and festivals that exist in this world and the people that come in and out of them. There’s so much love and compassion….and a bit of weirdness in some of the subjects, but that’s also okay too. THE HOBBY starts out really strong too, with an opening credit sequence that leads well into its topic and never talks down on its subjects, letting us come to love them for exactly who they are. This Canadian produced documentary is being released by the great people at Blue Ice Docs and Vortex Media, so I know we will be supporting this movie from Get Reel Movies down the road on its release too!
