2010


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Streetball

Streetball

(90 minutes) Australia/South Africa

Tuesday, 10/26, 8:00pm (Session XIV)

Director: Demetrius Wren
Producers: Michael Smith, Demetrius Wren


Description:

The Homeless World Cup is an annual soccer tournament comprised of the homeless and the excluded that draws teams from over fifty-six countries. The South African team consists of ex-convicts, former gangsters, orphans and recovering drug addicts that band together to represent their country, proving that no one is beyond redemption. Out of 250 athletes who try out for the country's team, only eight are chosen. After years of neglect, abuse and rejection by society, these players are recognized for their sporting talent and grab the opportunity to train daily to the peak of fitness before they leave for Melbourne. With tougher rules and higher stakes, these eight players compete not only to win the cup but also to leave life on the streets and begin the life of prosperity promised to them. Streetball is a story of hope and of the resilience that dwells within the human spirit. 


Biography:

Michael Smith was born in Johannesburg and spent the first years of his life in the Old Houghton community. The 1960s and 1970s were turbulent times in South Africa, so his American-born parents ultimately moved his family out of the country. Always politically minded, when Hurricane Katrina hit the coast of New Orleans, Michael and his brother organized donations from their neighbors and packed up a truck of supplies to drive down to New Orleans. These experiences proved to be significant and led Michael to not only found the organization, From Us With Love (FUWL), but to bring it back to the place of his birth.  FUWL began work in the townships of the Western Cape and joined forces with nursery schools and orphanages, providing specifically what these organizations requested, rather than beginning a new organization all together. 

Demetrius Wren began his artistic training at an early age after enrolling in the Davidson Fine Arts School in Augusta, Georgia, where he spent eight years studying music, dance, drama and video.  While in high school, Demetrius worked and volunteered for the Jewish Community Center in his hometown, working predominantly with special needs students. He has taught saxophone lessons and tutored at local schools in Augusta.


Contact Information:

Sunfish Films
848 S. Mariposa Avenue, Apt. 3
Los Angeles, CA 9005
E-mail: info@streetballfilm.com
Web site: www.streetballfilm.com

 


©2010 United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF)


Select a film

$100 a Day
The 10 Conditions of Love
All At Sea
Bhutto
The Bicycle
CAFWA
Children of Gaza
Climate Refugees
The Constitution Project: Yick Wo and the Equal Protection Clause
Crossing Hispaniola: Stories on Statelessness and Migration
The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan
Dead End: Afghan Migrants
Delicious Peace Grows in a Ugandan Coffee Bean
The Desert of Forbidden Art
Determined to Dance
Dreams Awake
Education on the Boat – Hope for Tomorrow
The First Kid to Learn English from Mexico
Gasland
Home for Hawksbill
Home is Where You Find It
In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee
Indentured
Killing in the Name
Kites
The Last Elephants in Thailand
Let's Make Money
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Mrs. Goundo's Daughter
New American Soldier
North-South.com
The Old Immigrant's Dance
Oliviero Toscani - The Rage of Images
Our Summer in Tehran
Prayers for Peace
Presumed Guilty
Queen of the Sun
Rabbit a la Berlin
Rapping in Tehran
Rescuing Emmanuel
Satellite Queens
Scientists under Attack -
Genetic Engineering in the Magnetic Field of Money
Secrets of the Tribe
Sing China!
Slaves - An Animated Documentary
Stinking Ship
Strange Birds in Paradise - A West Papuan Story
Streetball
Tesfaye
There Once Was an Island
Three Songs About Motherland
Wagah
Wahid's Mobile Bookstore
Waliden, Children of Others
War and Love in Kabul
War Don Don
Which Way Home
Who Killed Chea Vichea?
Without Country
World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements