'The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal' a look at one of Canada's most beloved bands

Mike Downie on 'No Dress Rehearsal' documentary Mike Downie, Gord Downie's brother and director of 'No Dress Rehearsal', discusses the documentary and its screening at CIFF.

Canadians will soon see a documentary that explores one of the nation's most beloved bands – The Tragically Hip.

The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal will screen Sept. 18 at the Globe Cinema as part of the Calgary International Film Festival.

"I loved it," said director Mike Downie of combing through hours of footage of his late brother, Tragically Hip lead singer Gord Downie.

"There was a thrill of searching for pieces, rumours of backstage footage from 1986 and all sorts of things, and we found a lot of it."

Many Tragically Hip songs focus on Canadian stories and subjects, among them Tom Thomson, Bill Barilko and David Milgaard, and Mike Downie credits the band for encouraging Canadians to take pride in their history.

"I believe we've become much more confident, self-reliant, believe in ourselves, in our stories and the power of them and I think The Hip had something to do with that," Downie said.