A new docu-series on Canadian rock legends The Tragically Hip will make its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next week. The series is titled The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal and was produced/directed by Mike Downie, brother of The Hip's late frontman Gord Downie. It includes new interviews with the band, family, friends, and famous fans including Will Arnett, Dan Aykroyd, Jay Baruchel, Sarah Harmer, Justin Trudeau, and Rush's Geddy Lee. From the film's description:

The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal is a definitive four-part documentary series about a bunch of scrappy kids from Kingston, Ontario - Gord Downie, Rob Baker, Johnny Fay, Paul Langlois and Gord Sinclair - who went on to make music that defined Canada to the world and, more importantly, Canada to Canadians.

Throughout the series, producer-director Mike Downie - brother of the band's singular frontperson - interweaves never-before-seen archival footage with new interviews with the band, family, friends, and famous fans including Will Arnett, Dan Aykroyd, Jay Baruchel, Sarah Harmer, Geddy Lee, and Justin Trudeau.

Downie pushes past the usual platitudes of the rock doc by exposing sentiments other, more detached directors might omit. The audience is with The Tragically Hip playing those early bars, in the studio as they hone their material, and in the stands as they graduate to stadiums across Canada while struggling to break through in the US. We're also with them as they experience personal tragedies that influence their music, bonding them as a found family. ...

The documentary will premiere next Thursday, September 5th at the Toronto International Film Festival with all the details available at tiff.net. You can check out the film's trailer below or on YouTube.