March 13th, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(NEW YORK, NY) March 13, 2014 —The Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), presented by AT&T, today announced the lineup for the eighth annual Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival, sponsored by Mohegan Sun. The Sports Festival was founded to broaden the audience for independent film through stories about sports and competition. The program includes feature and short films, an outdoor screening, special conversations, and an ESPN Films 30 for 30 program on soccer. The 2014 Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival will run during the 13th edition of TFF, taking place April 16 – April 27 at locations around New York City.

The world premiere of the 30 for 30 documentary When the Garden was Eden will serve as the gala premiere of the program on Thursday, April 17.  In the film, Rapaport focuses on the glory days of the Knicks championship teams of the early 70’s and their larger impact through a series of interviews with storied figures such as Walt “Clyde” Frazier, Earl Monroe, Willis Reed, Bill Bradley and Phil Jackson.

“The best sports stories have the mythology, complexity and stakes that extend beyond extraordinary athleticism, making for great films. These stories have fueled the huge success of the Tribeca/ESPN sports film festival by bringing sports fans and moviegoers together over the last eight years,” said Genna Terranova, Tribeca Film Festival Director of Programming. “Rappaport's When the Garden was Eden is a perfect example of a winning start to this year's inspiring slate.”

“When The Garden Was Eden gives us an inside look at the captivating era when the New York Knicks were in their prime,” said ESPN Films Director of Development Libby Geist. “Premiering the film at the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival in the heart of New York City, with Michael Rapaport directing, couldn't be more perfect.”

Says Rapaport, “As a native New Yorker and lifelong Knicks fan it was an honor to explore the Championship New York Knick teams. Those players have been a part of my vocabulary since I was a child…Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe and Willis Reed are ICONs of New York city and it’s been a privilege to be a part of re-telling the Knicks story.  I also have at times been in awe and tears with the 30 for 30 series and being a filmmaker who has gotten a chance to tell a story for such a great body of films is a great honor…I could not be more excited for our film to premiere right in the center of New York City at the Tribeca Film Festival.”

Since its inception in 2006, The Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival has become the premier showcase for independent films about sports and competition. The titles that will screen as part of the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival includes not only the film on the championship Knicks of the early 70’s but also documentaries that explore stories of a champion’s quest to regain a title that was unjustly stripped from him; the worst soccer team in the world’s drive to succeed; an underdog flag football team that riffs on classic sports movies with a cartoonish comedic sensibility; the creation of a revolutionary, independent professional baseball team; the premier American cyclist’s attempts to overcome his top competitor; how some of the all-time greatest fighters used boxing to pull themselves out of poverty; a soccer superstar at the peak of his powers on the world stage; and Chile’s controversial qualification for the 1974 World Cup. 

All of this year’s Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival films will screen at Tribeca Cinemas on Saturday, April 26. The films will also screen prior to April 26, throughout the Festival. 

In addition to the film series, the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival will present Sports Day as part of the Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair on Saturday, April 26. Sports Day offers fans an opportunity to engage in a variety of free, sports-related games and activities. In addition, some of New York’s most popular athletes, mascots and sports personalities will make guest appearances throughout the day. Sports Day is free and open to the public and will take place on North Moore Street, between Greenwich and West Streets, in Manhattan. 

The following films are featured in the 2014 Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival. 

TRIBECA/ESPN SPORTS FILM FESTIVAL

Gala

• When the Garden was Eden,Actor and tried-and-true New Yorker, Michael Rapaport, delivers an unabashed love letter to the Knicks with this fast-moving tribute to the team’s glory days, based on Harvey Araton’s best-selling book from 2012, When the Garden Was Eden. In the late ’60s, basketball was the city’s forgotten sport. Enter an unlikely band of scrappy team players, many of them future hall-of-famers, who would transform the team into one of the NBA’s most dazzling squads. Featuring interviews with Walt “Clyde” Frazier, Earl Monroe, Willis Reed, Bill Bradley, Phil Jackson, Red Holzman, Dave DeBusschere, Jerry Lucas, and many more stars from the Knicks’ championship years, When the Garden Was Eden is a snapshot of a colorful and volatile era in New York history and a testament to the breathless energy that defines the city and its sporting heroes.

The following Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival titles have been announced in their respective sections as part of the 2014 TFF film program:

• Intramural, directed by Andrew Disney, written by Bradley Jackson. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. There comes a time in every fifth-year senior’s life where they must either accept the impending ‘real world’ of jobs, marriage, and payment plans or shirk that responsibility in favor of playing the most glorious intramural football game your school probably doesn’t really care to see. In this full throttle and hilarious send-up of inspirational sports movies, director Andrew Disney harnesses every cliché and overused trope to tell the greatest (and only) intramural sports movie of all time. Featuring an ensemble cast including Kate McKinnon, Jay Pharoah, Jake Lacy, Beck Bennett, and Nikki Reed.

• Maravilla, directed and written by Juan Pablo Cadaveira. (Argentina) – International Premiere. A true underdog story, Maravilla follows Argentinian boxer Sergio ‘Maravilla’ Martinez, as he sets out to reclaim the title of Middleweight champion that was unfairly snatched from him in 2011 by Julio Chavez, Jr. Focusing on the rise of Martinez from penniless amateur to world champion and sporting celebrity, director Juan Pablo Cadaveira offers a fascinating glimpse into today’s boxing landscape, revealing the politics of the sporting profession that often places entertainment value over the sport itself. In English and Spanish with subtitles

• Slaying the Badger, directed and written by John Dower. (UK) – World Premiere. Before Lance Armstrong, there was Greg LeMond, who was the first and only American to officially win the Tour de France. In this engrossing documentary, LeMond looks back at the pivotal 1986 Tour, and his increasingly vicious rivalry with friend, teammate, and mentor Bernard Hinault. The reigning Tour champion and brutal competitor known as “The Badger,” Hinault ‘promised’ to help LeMond to his first victory, in return for LeMond supporting him in the previous year. But in a sport that purports to reward teamwork, it’s really every man for himself.

Tribeca Talks: After the Movie and Conversations

• Tribeca Talks: After the Movie
  Champs, directed and written by Bert Marcus. (USA) – World Premiere. This insightful and provocative documentary charts the lives of some of America’s heaviest hitters—including Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, and Bernard Hopkins—as they seek to break out of poverty via one of the few outlets available. Bert Marcus skillfully weaves their personal histories and gripping footage from their biggest bouts to explore the meaning of the American dream in a society increasingly fragmented between rich and poor.
  
  After the movie: Stay for a conversation with former boxers Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, and boxing promoter Lou DiBella, about life, rivalry, and conflict both inside and out of the ring.

• Special Conversation
  Shooting and Scoring
  A conversation about the particular art in creating authentic sports stories - from non-fiction material to heart stopping hits that satisfy hardcore fans while also connecting with broader audiences. Featuring director, Peter Berg best known for his hit TV series and film, Friday Night Lights and for the recent sports doc series, State of Play which illuminates the intersection of sports and sports culture with wider society in 2014 America.

Tribeca Drive-In
Next Goal Wins will screen as part of the Tribeca Drive-In, Sponsored by AT&T and hosted by Brookfield Place, on April 19. The full Tribeca Drive-In schedule will be announced in the coming days.

• Next Goal Wins, directed by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison. (UK) – World Premiere . When the American Samoan national soccer team suffered the world’s worst defeat, losing to Australia 31-0, these tiny islands crash-landed into last place in FIFA world rankings, and became known as “the worst team in the world.” More than a decade later, they have not yet won an official match. Next Goal Wins follows their miraculous efforts as they train for the next World Cup. Led by an eccentric new coach, they have a chance to redefine their international reputation.

Special Screening

• The Battered Bastards of Baseball, directed and written by Chapman Way and Maclain Way. (USA) – New York Premiere. Bing Russell is best known for his role as Deputy Clem on Bonanza, but he left Hollywood in 1973 to pursue his first love: baseball. Creating the independent Portland Mavericks, his ragtag roster of players that major franchises rejected were baseball’s biggest joke. Then they shattered expectations and turned Major League Baseball on its heels in an unheralded story of spirit and rebellion.

30 for 30: Soccer Stories
Followed by a special conversation with filmmakers Ezra Edelman, Daniel Battsek and ESPN about the films and the upcoming World Cup

• The Opposition, directed by Ezra Edelman and Jeffrey Plunkett (USA/Chile) – World Premiere.   In the wake of the 1973 military coup in Chile, American-backed dictator Augusto Pinochet transformed Santiago’s National Stadium into a concentration camp where political opponents were tortured and assassinated.  Only two months later, that same stadium was scheduled to host a decisive World Cup qualifier between Chile and the Soviet Union.  Despite protests, FIFA’s own investigation, and the Soviets’ eventual boycott, the Chilean team still played the game as planned, qualifying for the 1974 World Cup on a goal scored against no one.

• Maradona '86 (TBC), directed by Sam Blair, Executive Produced by John Battsek (USA) – World Premiere. In the 1986 World Cup, Diego Armando Maradona redefined what is possible for one man to accomplish on the soccer field. Already a figure of notoriety, but with one failed World Cup behind him, Argentinian Maradona took possession of the international stage in Mexico, the spotlight rarely drifting from him as he wrote an indelible history with his feet and, of course, with a “hand from God.” Maradona ’86 is a fascinating, evocative, and operatic portrait, revealing Maradona’s inner complexity and contradictions while basking in the joy and passion of his performance on the pitch, as he wrote his name into soccer history forever.

Short Film

• True Gladiators, directed by Kevin Donovan (USA) – World Premiere. Follows the career of three former American Gladiators and how they deal with the demands of the show, the injuries, and their personal lives.
  
  Jim Kalafat was a tough kid from a small town in Montana who dreamed of playing for the NFL. His prodigious skills as a linebacker led him all the way to the Los Angeles Rams, where he met fellow teammate Dan Clark.  After suffering career-ending injuries, the two best friends used their athleticism, broad smiles and gift for gab to become the muscular, ass-kicking, heartthrob stars “Laser” and “Nitro” on the hit ‘90s television show American Gladiators.  Joined by Mr. America 1989, Steve Henneberry, a.k.a. “Tower”, the three battle-scarred gladiators reveal what went on behind the scenes of one of the most popular syndicated “sports” shows in history.

About the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival
The Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival is a partnership between Tribeca Enterprises, the parent company of the Tribeca Film Festival, and ESPN Inc.  The Festival, founded in 2006, is the premiere showcase for independent sports films.

About Tribeca Film Festival:
The Tribeca Film Festival helps filmmakers reach the broadest possible audience, enabling the international film community and general public to experience the power of cinema and promote New York City as a major filmmaking center. It is well known for being a diverse international film festival that supports emerging and established directors.

Founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in 2001 following the attacks on the World Trade Center, to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of the lower Manhattan district through an annual celebration of film, music, and culture, the Festival brings the industry and community together around storytelling.

The Tribeca Film Festival has screened more than 1,500 films from more than 80 countries since its first edition in 2002. Since inception, it has attracted an international audience of more than 4.5 million attendees and has generated an estimated $850 million in economic activity for New York City.

About the 2014 Festival Sponsors:
As Presenting Sponsor of the Tribeca Film Festival, AT&T is committed to supporting the Festival and the art of filmmaking through access and innovation, aiming to make this the most interactive film festival in the country, where visitors experience the Festival in ways they never imagined.

The Tribeca Film Festival is pleased to announce its Signature Sponsors: Accenture, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, American Express, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE® Gin, Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), Brookfield, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, ESPN, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Heineken, IWC Schaffhausen, NBC 4 New York, NCM Media Networks, The New York Times, and PepsiCo. The Festival welcomes the following new Signature Sponsors: The Lincoln Motor Company, United Airlines, and Santander.

Tickets for the 2014 Festival:
Tickets for the Festival will be $17.00 for evening and weekend screenings, and $9.00 for all late night and weekday matinee screenings.

Advance selection ticket packages and passes are now on sale for American Express Card Members, and go on sale today, March 11, to the general public. All advance selection packages and passes can be purchased online at www.tribecafilm.com/festival/tickets, or by telephone at (646) 502-5296 or toll free at (866) 941-FEST (3378).

Single ticket sales begin Tuesday, April 8 for American Express Card Members, Sunday, April 13 for downtown residents, and Monday, April 14 for the general public. Single tickets can be purchased online, by telephone, or at one of the Ticket Outlets, with locations at Tribeca Cinemas at 54 Varick Street, Bow Tie Cinemas Chelsea at 260 W. 23rd Street, and AMC Loews Village VII at 66 3rd Avenue. The 2014 Festival will continue offering ticket discounts for evening and weekend screenings for students, seniors and select downtown Manhattan residents. Discounted tickets are available at Ticket Outlet locations only. Additional information and further details on the Festival can be found at www.tribecafilm.com.

PRESS CONTACTS:
TFF/Rubenstein Communications:
Freida Orange, Associate Vice President
(212) 843-8340, forange@rubenstein.com  

Tahra Grant, Associate Vice President
(212) 843-9213, tgrant@rubenstein.com

TFF/Tribeca:                                           
Tammie Rosen, SVP of Communications,
(212) 941-2003, trosen@tribecaenterprises.com

IMAGES FOR PRESS/EDITOR’S NOTE:  Film stills for the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival are available at www.image.net. If you are not an image.net media user yet, please register using the following referral code: 2604. If you have any issues please contact ccrawford@tribecafilmfestival.org

To keep up with Tribeca, visit the Tribeca Film Festival website at www.tribecafilm.com.

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