Sport in America: Our Defining Stories

Arbitres

The Champs Are Back: A Docu-Short is a student-made documentary short following the three-time national champions Waltham High School Varsity Cheerleading Team as they perform at a competition.

A bold challenge, a fearless experiment and ultimately, a spectacular failure. In 2001, sports entertainment titans Ebersol and McMahon launched the XFL. It was hardly the first time a league had tried to compete with the NFL, but the brash audacity of the bid, combined with the personalities and charisma of Ebersol and McMahon and the marketing behemoths of their respective companies -- NBC and WWE -- captured headlines and a sense of undeniable anticipation about what was to come.

A never before seen look at the meteoric rise of Derrick Rose, the young Chicago superstar that was suddenly derailed by devastating injuries and unrealistic expectations for a hometown hero.

Chronicling long-time Fox Sports broadcaster Gus Johnson's mid-life decision to enroll at Harvard as an extension of his lifelong love of learning and social impact.

In this film, we follow footballer George Best over a 90-minute match against Coventry City, which took place on 12th September 1970. There is no soundtrack and no interview overlaid, just Best doing what he did best - playing football.

Chasse au gros en méditerranée

A portriat of the daily lives of Beatriz and Gilberto, a couple that has been together for over 40 years. A reflection about love and marriage. An intimate glimpse into the lives of two people who struggle to live in harmony.

A Norwegian Odyssey interspersed with adventures from around the globe. Follow Max and his friends as they tackle the gnar from the glaciers of Norway to the jungles of Madagascar. Jam packed full of action and humour; narrated by television's own Tony Bilbow.

A documentary of the German national soccer team’s 2006 World Cup experience that changed the face of modern Germany.

With depth, intimacy, and humor, FLOAT! captures filmmaker Azza Cohen's magnetic grandma’s life-affirming journey learning to swim at 82, inspiring audiences to defy societal expectations of aging and to boldly look forward at every stage.

Off-camera, a Western traveler tells us of hearing singing from his hotel window in Bombay. He searches for the source, and discovers a caste of street performers, eking out a modest living. We see individuals and groups, old and young, snake charmers and those hired to sing at family celebrations. A few talk about their lives and refute accusations of kidnapping lodged against the caste. A troupe of women sing at a party for a pregnant woman - they are saucy and blunt, encouraging and sisterly.

This short documentary, shot in July 1976 at the Mannes College of Music on Manhattan's Upper East Side, marks the first collaboration between Merchant Ivory Films and composer Richard Robbins, who would go on to provide the musical scores for nearly all Merchant Ivory films. Later in 1976, 'Sweet Sounds' was shown at the New York and London Film Festivals. It was also broadcast on PBS.

Paratodos

What is a family? Rosie O'Donnell looks at the many answers to this question in this documentary that features original songs and thoughtful kids musing on love and family. The show provides a less than moving portrait of the remarkable diversity of so called families today, including same-sex parents, mixed-heritage families, and stories of adoption. Animated songs and musical performances by kids and families spice up the festivities along with performances and recordings by artists including Ziggy Marley, Bonnie Raitt, Doris Day, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Frank Sinatra, Rosie O'Donnell and They Might Be Giants.

The inspiring account on international bodyboarding star Luz 'Loly' Grande - a young woman on a personal mission to make bodyboarding a means to improve the lives of disadvantaged children in Puerto Rico, Argentina, Brazil, and Peru.

A short documentary by Brendan O’Connell in which he goes into Walmart stores to paint the aisles he walks and the people he sees. O’Connell says “whatever your views are, positive or negative related to Walmart, it just is. From an artist’s perspective, addressing this environment that is an undeniable component to contemporary life is exciting.”

An exploration of the past and future of the steel industry in America.

"Youngstown Boys" explores class and power dynamics in college sports through the parallel, interconnected journeys of one-time dynamic running back Maurice Clarett and former elite head coach Jim Tressel. Clarett and Tressel emerged from opposite sides of the tracks in Youngstown, Ohio, and then joined for a magical season at Ohio State University in 2002 that produced the first national football championship for the school in over 30 years. Shortly thereafter, though, Clarett was suspended from college football and began a downward spiral that ended with a prison term. Tressel continued at Ohio State for another eight years before his career there also ended in scandal.

All the lives of Cora Coralina in a poetic narrative in the voices, feelings and interpretations of six generations of great Brazilian actresses. A polyphony of the voices that inhabited Cora, revealed in prose, verse and images with its immense literary talent and human content. The film reveals the trajectory of Cora Coralina, from her childhood years to getting married and leaving Goiás, from the long period of 45 years lived in different cities in the state of São Paulo and her return to the City of Goiás, when she revealed herself to Brazil with the strength of his poetry.