A new feature documentary from Canadian filmmakers Nance Ackerman and Sergeo Kirby, The Delivery Line: Midwives on the Frontlines, will have its world premiere on April 30 at the 2026 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto, ahead of its broadcast and digital premiere on TVO in early 2027.
Produced by Kirby’s Loaded Pictures and Ackerman’s Lightbulb Productions in association with TVO, The Delivery Line (87 minutes) is directed and co-written by Ackerman and follows midwives on the front lines in precarious environments around the world, including in Mexico, Colombia, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and encampment parks and shelters in Toronto.
“The Delivery Line reframes and re-examines some of our most overwhelming global issues — migration, crime, poverty, climate change and war — through one of life’s most joyous experiences: childbirth. From Central Asia and Africa to the Americas, the film follows midwives on the front lines, as they help women give birth in the most challenging of environments. Right now, women are dying in childbirth in shockingly high numbers, and midwives are often their only hope for survival,” reads a description in a press release.
Filmed over a period of eight years, The Delivery Line “weaves together the inspiring stories of five very different women around the world — Ximena in Mexico, Maria in Colombia, Gulbadan in Afghanistan, Hamsatu in Nigeria, and Jay in Canada — who are fighting for the survival of their communities against immense forces. They fight not with violence, but with hope and love. They are midwives, armed with their innate knowledge and wisdom, practising a profession that is, at its core, a tool for change and a rebellion against adversity,” the press release says.
“The Delivery Line is steeped in my experiences as a photojournalist and as a mother, and was truly a labour of love for me,” Ackerman said in the release. “The stories of conflict and crises have been told through a male lens for so long, I’m grateful for the opportunity to change the perspective. I can only hope that audiences come to admire the strength and resilience of these inspiring women and see that a person’s world can be changed by a respectful birth, at the beginning of life. It is the ultimate human right.”
The Delivery Line: Midwives on the Frontlines was developed with the assistance of LYFTA, Telefilm Canada, the Bell Fund and the Aga Khan Foundation Canada, with market support from Hot Docs Deal Makers, RIDM–Sunny Side of the Doc, MIA Market Rome, Docs Barcelona and EFM-Virtual, and with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, the Quebec Film and Television Tax Credit, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, the Government of Nova Scotia Film and Television Production Incentive Fund, and Screen Nova Scotia’s Content Creator Fund. The film is distributed by Melki Distribution and Northern Banner Releasing.
Trailer available here.
Image courtesy of Loaded Pictures/Lightbulb Productions
