Giants of Africa tells the story of a humble man with big goals and an even bigger heart.

In an 83-minute documentary premiered on Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival, Director Hubert Davis details the work done by Giants of Africa (GoA), a basketball program founded by Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri.

The program seeks to teach, and to give opportunities to aspiring players all across Africa through basketball training camps. The film follows the organization’s journey through four countries: Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, and Ujiri’s native country of Nigeria.

“It’s in those children that I see myself, and there’s just that small window of opportunity when they can find themselves.” — Masai Ujiri

Giants of Africa takes viewers into the humanist ethos of Ujiri, and how change is possible in a land where humanity is too often forsaken.

Ujiri’s trade is basketball, and he’s doing what he can to see the sport thrive. But the film makes clear that the greater purpose of GoA isn’t to produce the next Hakeem Olajuwon — Ujiri and his organization is in the business of building people.

Those people come from all walks of life, and in Africa, many people have walked the hard road. Ujiri lives by the mantra that it is the duty of those who have crossed the finish line to go back and help those on their journeys.

Ujiri learned that at an early age from Coach OBJ, a former Peace Corps member who went on to coach in Africa for over 45 years. Coach OBJ appears throughout the film as a gregarious greybeard who flashes a peace symbol whenever he enters or leaves a conversation. He talks about grassroots efforts to give kids the opportunity to play basketball in the 1970s, and credited Ujiri for continuing that work on a much larger scale.

Pay it forward to the next generation — that’s Ujiri’s goal.

The film itself follows the stories of a handful of underprivileged campers like Sodiq Awogbemi, a displaced teenager who escaped slaughter at the hands of terrorist group Boko Haram.

Through tears, Sodiq tells his story of unthinkable pain, of how his friends died as his village was overrun, and of how he sees the world after witnessing the absolute worst in life. Sodiq is initially shy, but he finds his comfort zone and eventually makes good on his potential.

Ujiri revealed after the film was over that Sodiq is now playing professionally in Bulgaria after being discovered by GoA. Read more about Sodiq here.

“Dream big around Africa. As young kids, as young youth, you have to aspire to be great. OK? It doesn’t matter where you’re from, it doesn’t matter what you do, look at all our stories, look at everybody here — we can be good, we can be great.” — Masai Ujiri

Giants of Africa brings you the real. The film shows the humanity of Ujiri’s world through his candor.

The film pans across candid shots of Africa’s vibrant cities and its overpopulated slums to find Ujiri standing before eager teenagers in dusty gyms and rugged courts. He gives viewers the good, the bad, and the ugly of the situation, then he turns to the kids.

Before anyone grabs a jersey, Ujiri first delivers his thesis. In a repeat-after-me exercise, Ujiri sings “NBA here we come!” and “Africa we are happy!” before the kids shout it back. Then the campers take turns leading the chants.

Without empowerment there is no learning, and if the campers leave with nothing else, they learn to love themselves and their people. Ujiri and his coaches drill campers on basketball skills, but they also come away with lessons on the importance of teamwork, the importance of respecting women, and a reminder of their greater purpose.

Through GoA, Ujiri wants to build more than athletes. He dreams big by wanting to rebuild Africa one basketball player at a time.

“Wherever you came from, go back and make a difference.” — Masai Ujiri

Giants of Africa teaches the lesson of humility. Ujiri reminds us that there’s a greater purpose than ourselves. We have a responsibility to humanity itself.

TIFF is showing Giants of Africa all weekend (showtimes here). Tickets are hard to come by, but please do check it out. We can all use that reminder.