New Documentary Reveals Untold Moments from Rick Hansen's 1984 Global Wheelchair Tour
A film produced by Ryan Reynolds and Maximum Effort premieres at TIFF, showcasing private audio diaries and unseen footage from Rick Hansen’s 1984 Man in Motion journey.
The documentary "Man in Motion: The Rick Hansen Story," produced by Ryan Reynolds’s Maximum Effort, debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival, drawing on Hansen’s private audio diaries recorded when he was 27 and paralyzed from the waist down. Directors Adrian Buitenhuis and Derik Murray combine these recordings with never-before-seen archival clips, including contributions from music producer David Foster. A central narrative thread follows the love that blossomed between Hansen and his physiotherapist Amanda Reid, who later became his spouse.
The film details the arduous logistics of a 26-month, 40,075-kilometre wheelchair circumnavigation undertaken without GPS or cell phones, highlighting the support of crowds in places such as the United States, the Soviet Union, the Middle East, Asia, New Zealand and Australia. After its TIFF premiere, the documentary is slated for a showing at the Vancouver Film Festival, aiming to renew discussion about spinal-cord injury awareness and accessibility advocacy.
