Sports on Film Documentary Series Returns to Jacob Burns
Movie lovers who are thinking about attending the return of the Jacob Burns Film Center’s “We Got Game: Sports on Film” will see none of the most popular sports-themed movies over the past couple of generations.
There will be no be “Field of Dreams,” “Rocky” or “Slap Shot” screened at the Pleasantville theater during the next month.
Those who do attend the nine-film series, which is scheduled to begin this Thursday night, will see documentaries that explore little-known issues or people. Think of it as topics that might be addressed on HBO’s “Real Sports” or ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” but geared for the big screen.
Some of the subjects tackled include college sports, child golfers, table tennis and snowboarding.
The series, which returns after a hiatus of a few years, was programmed by Gina Duncan, administrator for programming and special guests, and programmer Andrew Jupin. Duncan said the features selected for the upcoming series “are a little to the left” as compared to mainstream fictional sports movies, she said.
Films include “The Short Game” on Jan. 20, about seven-year-old golfers playing in a tournament; “Ping Pong, Never Too Old to Gold,” about 80-and-up table tennis enthusiasts participating in a tournament (Jan. 29); and “The Art of Flight: 3D” about snowboarders (Feb. 2).
This Thursday’s opening night screening will be “Schooled: The Price of College Sports.” Following its presentation, a question-and-answer session will be held featuring former Major League player and manager Bobby Valentine and the current athletic director at Sacred Heart University. Also on hand will be the film’s executive producer, Andrew Muscato, and ESPN investigative reporter T.J. Quinn.
Following the Feb. 10 screening of “Branca’s Pitch,” former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca and Muscato, the documentary’s director, will also take part in a question- and-answer session. Branca, now 88 and a Mount Vernon native, was a 20-game winner in 1947, but has been dogged his entire life for serving up the pitch to New York Giant Bobby Thomson that won the 1951 National League pennant for Brooklyn’s bitter cross-town rival.
Duncan said interspersing the post-screening interviews has been a signature feature for the Jacob Burns.
“It’s definitely something we do a lot of at the Burns,” she said. Without the formal discussion sessions, those who have seen films would be “clogging up the lobby” to talk about them.
All of the documentaries in the series, with the exception of “Weekend of a Champion,” were released between 2011 and 2013. “Weekend of a Champion,” a documentary about race car great Jackie Stewart preparing for the 1971 Monaco Grand Prix, was not publicly screened until last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Jupin noted.
The series will conclude on Feb. 19 with a presentation of “Armstrong’s Lie,”
Alex Gibney’s film about controversial cyclist Lance Armstrong. Jupin said the director pursues Armstrong, demanding an interview because he was unhappy about being lied to about his use of banned substances when he was competing in Tour de France competitions.
The Jacob Burns Film Center is located at 364 Manville Rd. in Pleasantville. For more information on the schedule and for tickets, call 914-747-5555 or visit burnsfilmcenter.org.
