The Heart of the Game

United States, 103 minutes
Director: Ward Serrill
Screenwriter: Ward Serrill
Cast: Bill Resler, Darnellia Russell, Joyce Walker, Ludacris

Synopsis: Bill Resler is a college professor who has always had an interest in basketball. When he takes the job coaching the ladies' basketball team at Seattle's Roosevelt High School, he brings with him a unique approach. He wants his athletes to develop independence in thought while keeping a strong sense of team (he encourages the young women to envision themselves as a bloodthirsty wolf pack). A couple of seasons into this gig, a young African-American woman, Darnellia Russell, enters the gym. She has transferred to Roosevelt from her neighborhood school because her mother feels Coach Resler offers greater opportunities for growth. Darnellia is strong-willed, and occasionally self-destructive. The mentor-student relationship that Resler and Russell develop is the heart of "The Heart of the Game". Shot over six years, director Ward Serrill and his crew take what could have been a simple sports documentary and turn it into a complex tale about gender, race, class, and athletics.

website: http://www.heartofthegame.org/web/home.htm

Showtimes: Saturday, April 29, 2:00 PM - Sunday, April 30, 2:00 PM