The Heart of the Game
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Ward Serrill
Maude Lepley
Joyce Walker
Devon Crosby Helms
Darnellia Russell
Bill Resler
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
A chronicle following the Roosevelt Roughriders girls' basketball team for six tumultuous seasons, capturing the passion and energy of a high school girls' competitive sport. Coach Bill Resler is a tax professor at the University of Washington, with three daughters, when he applies for the job as girls' basketball coach at Roosevelt High. Although his coaching experience is minimal, he has a philosophy that disciplined training and healthy aggression will play a key role in turning an average team into champions. Using metaphors and themes to inspire the girls each year, Coach Roesler encourages them to think and act like a "pride of lions," a "tropical storm" and a "pack of wolves"--all to communicate the mindset required of a championship team. He invents an "inner circle" that is free of parents and authority figures in which the girls can work through problems on their own. And at the start of every season, he makes them run, and run, and run--training them to outlast the competition. But when Darnellia Russell, a young African-American from a neighborhood across town, walks on the mostly-white Roosevelt court, both Russell and Relser will be changed forever. A phenomenal talent with WNBA potential, she develops into one of the very best players in the state. In her junior year, Darnellia is faced with a challenge that could put both her basketball and academic future in jeopardy. Both her teammates and her coach must decide whether or not to support her desire to continue playing, even after she's ruled ineligible by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, the state's governing sports organization.
Director
Ward Serrill
Cast
Maude Lepley
Joyce Walker
Devon Crosby Helms
Darnellia Russell
Bill Resler
Crew
Alice De Muizon
Larry Estes
Eric Frith
Lois Greenberg
Devon Crosby Helms
Dave Howe
Sue Jacobs
Maude Lepley
Liz Manne
Mike Mcauliffe
Richard Palacios
Bill Resler
Darnellia Russell
Ward Serrill
Ward Serrill
Ward Serrill
Ward Serrill
Amelia Stodghill
Joyce Walker
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Expanded Release in United States June 16, 2006
Released in United States 2006
Released in United States June 2006
Released in United States March 2006
Released in United States on Video February 27, 2007
Released in United States September 2005
Released in United States Summer June 9, 2006
Shown at San Francisco International Film Festival (Documentaries) April 20-May 4, 2006.
Shown at SILVERDOCS:AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival (Pre-Festival Screening) June 13-18, 2006.
Shown at South by Southwest Film Festival (Special Screening) March 10-18, 2006.
Shown at the Seattle International Film Festival May 25-June 18, 2006.
Shown at Toronto International Film Festival September 8-17, 2005.
Feature directorial debut for Ward Serrill.
Miramax acquired North American rights to project at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival for a reported $1.5 million.
Released in United States 2006 (Shown at San Francisco International Film Festival (Documentaries) April 20-May 4, 2006.)
Released in United States 2006 (Shown at the Seattle International Film Festival May 25-June 18, 2006.)
Released in United States on Video February 27, 2007
Released in United States March 2006 (Shown at South by Southwest Film Festival (Special Screening) March 10-18, 2006.)
Released in United States June 2006 (Shown at SILVERDOCS:AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival (Pre-Festival Screening) June 13-18, 2006. )
Released in United States Summer June 9, 2006 (NY, LA, Seattle)
Expanded Release in United States June 16, 2006
Released in United States September 2005 (Shown at Toronto International Film Festival September 8-17, 2005.)
