By John Corrado
The 2025 Hot Docs Film Festival ran from April 24th to May 4th in Toronto
If you didn’t know that Excel spreadsheets were a thing you could be the best at, well, have I got news for you. There’s a whole competition for it, where students come from around the world to compete, which provides the basis of director Kristina Kraskov’s enjoyable documentary Spreadsheet Champions.
Playing as a mix of quirky human interest doc and engaging competition film, Spreadhseet Champions introduces us to six finalists from around the world who have earned the opportunity to represent their countries at the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship in Orlando, Florida. These kids are competing in the Excel section, though there are other competitions for Word and PowerPoint.
The subjects include Braydon from Australia, Alkmini from Greece, Carmina from Guatemala, Nam from Vietnam, and De La Paix from Cameroon. Representing the United States is Mason, an eccentric teenager who casually plays the organ in his room and does ham radio as a hobby with his dad. They are all bright, likeable subjects who are passionate about spreadsheets, and are easy to root for throughout the film.
Kraskov introduces us to their families as well, showing the personal stakes for them in winning this competition. But burnout is real, and some may not even be able to complete the extremely difficult, three-part test masterminded by Bing, the Microsoft programmer behind creating the challenges for the competition. At 86 minutes, the film is able to maintain our interest through the competition itself and the lead-up to it, showing personal setbacks and triumphs. It might even inspire you to make better spreadsheets.
Film Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)
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