Across the Line (2015 film)

Across the Line is a 2015 Canadian drama film directed by Director X. It was set and shot in Nova Scotia.

The film is set in North Preston, Nova Scotia where Mattie (Stephan James), a black hockey player, is being considered for a professional career. However, his hopes are threatened by growing racial strife at his school while his brother Carter (Shamier Anderson) is involved in criminal activity. Mattie also has a romantic interest in Jayme (Sarah Jeffery) who already has a white boyfriend.

The film's storyline was inspired by the 1989 Cole Harbour District High School race riots.

The film was originally titled Undone. The film was produced by Floyd Kane, Michael Donovan, Mark Gosine and Amos Adetuyi and was written by Kane, a native of East Preston, NS. Kane attended Cole Harbour High school when a race riot erupted at the school in 1989.

The first screening of Across the Line was 19 September 2015 at the Atlantic Film Festival where it won the award for Best Atlantic Feature.

The film opened for limited in British Columbia and Ontario on 8 April 2016, with screenings in various Canadian cities throughout that month.

The National Post assessed the film at 2.5/4 stars, noting the story's unwavering focus on racial themes was "to the detriment of the film's depth and realism" but noted that video producer Director X "makes the transition to feature film-making look easy".