From ‘Hoop Dreams’ to the ’76 Hoosiers: Local film fest features best of basketball
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Two of Indiana’s favorite winter pastimes meet this week as basketball and movies team up for an event downtown.
The SLAM Film Festival promises a powerhouse lineup of pictures inspired by the game. It’s a joint effort of Indiana’s Heartland Film and the national basketball publication, SLAM.
“SLAM reached out,” Heartland Film’s Adam Howell told News 8. “It’s their 30th anniversary for the magazine and they thought what better way to celebrate than to bring some of the best films over the last 30 years, as well as brand-new, unreleased films on All-Star weekend. And they said, ‘Hey, you guys know how to put on film festivals. Can you help us out?’”
The Living Room Theaters at Bottleworks will host all of the screenings during the three-day event that runs from Feb. 16 – 18. Each day includes a mix of well-known box office hits and documentaries.
Special guests will speak at several of the screenings, including former Indiana Pacer Paul George appearing as executive producer of “Amongst the Trees,” Candace Parker from “Unapologetic,” the film about her life and career, and director and star subjects from “Hoop Dreams,” Steve James, Arthur Agee, and William Gates.
“Our main contact with SLAM said this is what he’s excited about the most, to meet these guys. “Howell told us about ‘Hoop Dreams.’ And so we are over the moon. It’s a hot ticket right now for us.”
Here’s this All-Star weekend’s film lineup:
Friday
- 10 a.m. – “Above the Rim”
- 10:30 a.m. – “Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks”
- 12:30 p.m. – “Hoops Dreams”
- 1 p.m. – “Amongst the Trees”
- 3:30 p.m. – “Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot”
- 4:30 p.m. – “The Syd & TP Show”
Saturday
- 10 a.m. – “15 Years of 30 for 30
- 11 a.m. – “Perfect in ’76”
- Noon – “Stephen Curry: Underrated”
- 1 p.m. – “Candace Parker: Unapologetic”
- 3 p.m. – “D. Wade: Life Unexpected”
- 3:30 p.m. – “Blue Chips”
Sunday
- 10 a.m. – “Hoosiers”
- 11 a.m. – “Shattered Glass: A WNBPA Story”
- 11:30 a.m. – “Giannis: The Marvelous Journey”
- 1:30 p.m. – “Handle With Care: The Legend of Notic Streetball Crew”
- 3 p.m. – “Chang Can Dunk”
- 4 p.m. – “Game Change Game”
To see details and purchase tickets, click here.