It took me a few months to track down Amanda Kindzierski, the documentarian behind the forthcoming short film Manitoba Sharks.  I first read about the film in a press release from the Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival (WAFF).  According to the release, Ms. Kindzierski had won a $20,000 “pitch contest” from MTS Stories From Home, which is a collection of original, made-in-Manitoba programming created exclusively for MTS TV customers.

Director Amanda Kindzierski

While the release stated that Manitoba Sharks would “tell the story of pool in Manitoba [a province of Canada] through the eyes of Aboriginal proprietors and players who are among the best in the world,” the real story, as revealed to me by Ms. Kindzierski in an interview this past March, is far more fascinating.

Ms. Kindzierski began with a fundamental question:   Why does Winnipeg have so much billiards talent for such a small city?  (The population is about 660,000.) “We go to these Canadian tournaments and we clean up,” proffered Ms. Kindzierski animatedly.

Though my own post-interview research could not confirm that the citizens of Winnipeg (or Manitoba) win a disproportionate amount of Canadian titles, I was nonetheless hooked by Ms. Kindzierski’s personal story and her mission quest to make this film.

A born cinephile, Ms. Kindzierski became obsessed with movies early, deciding at age 8 that she wanted to become a director.  After some life decisions took her off that path, she ultimately pivoted, giving up her job, apartment, and car, to pursue film.  She was one of nine Canadians accepted into the National Screen Institute New Voices program, in which she attended a nine-month broadcasting school and then, two years ago, made her first short film, The Path.

But, as an active “middle-of-the-road” pool player, she also knew she had another story to tell. “Winnipeg has one of the largest pool leagues in the world,” she shared.  In fact, the Aactive Pool League has more than 4,000 members and 450 teams.  She asked herself: Why does Winnipeg have such a high concentration of billiards players?

Born to a Polish/Ukrainian mother and an Ojibwe Cree father, Ms. Kindzierski wanted the world to know about Winnipeg’s talent – and more important, wanted  that story to be told from an indigenous Canadian point of view.  As evidenced by the success of her 3-minute pitch (to a panel that included actor Adam Beach, currently starring in the heavily anticipated summer movie Suicide Squad), a lot of people wanted her to tell that story, as well.

Joe Ducharme

To represent that story, Ms. Kindzierski opted to focus on two individuals of two different generations.  The first was her father, Joe Ducharme.  A highly experienced amateur player, Mr. Ducharme has won both the Aactive Championship League and placed second in the 2007 Valley National 8-Ball League Association (VNEA).

Shannon Ducharme (photo by Richard Walker)

The current generation in Manitoba Sharks is represented by Shannon Ducharme (no relation), whose exciting career has been checkered by both a stint in jail and a bout with cancer. A full-time construction foreman by day, Mr. Shannon Ducharme, who once won the Western Canadian 8-ball title at age 19, recently slingshot his career by placing 2^nd in the CBSA Canadian Men’s Open 9-ball Championship, and then competing in Doha, Qatar at the 2015 World Nine-ball Championship, where he made it to the fourth round before losing 9-6 to the heavily favored Warren Kiamco from the Philippines.

But, as Ms. Kindzierski narrates the tale, the real impressive story is that “Shannon can only play pool his spare time.  The fact he is competing with these guys is incredible.  Shannon lost to a [top] guy [at the World Championship].  And Shannon couldn’t even find a sponsor.  He was allowed three logos on his shirt and he couldn’t find anyone.”[1]  She adds, “Guys [like Shannon] are digging ditches and driving trucks and then competing against people who play for a living.”

As of two months ago, Manitoba Sharks was in post-production with a rough cut almost completed.  According to Ms. Kindzierski, the next step is to send the estimated 20-minute film to MTS for approval so that it will be released on Stories From Home. Once that happens, Ms. Kindzierski will then turn her attention to securing a distributor in Winnipeg and submitting the documentary to film festivals so a wider audience can view it.

As for the question, Why does Winnipeg have such a high concentration of billiards players?, Ms. Kindzierski acknowledges the obvious answer of the weather.  “We have winter from October to April.” But, she continues that the real reason is that there is a “huge amount of teaching and coaching and sharing of knowledge that doesn’t happen in big cities.”

[1]       Mr. Ducharme will again represent Canada in the 2016 World Nine-ball Championship in Doha, Qatar.  An online fundraiser is underway to help him raise $2000 to attend.