Sports Illustrated

The U.S. Sports Film Festival

by Molly Eichel

You see a lot of happy endings at the movies, particularly sports movies. So it's fitting that Philadelphia — where the big sports stories haven't had happy endings for the last 25 years — was chosen to host the first ever U.S. Sports Film Festival.

Sports and movies are an organic fit: The arc of competition creates a natural drama. Not to mention those highlight reel moments! Robert Redford and his lights-destroying home run in The Natural or Rocky running up the Art Museum steps. Sharon Pinkenson, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, sees the festival reaching beyond film and sports buffs. "These stories are about athletes as heroes, imperfect people that achieve great things," says Pinkenson. "It's really about the human stories."

The festival is the passion of founder Stephen Hartman, who felt that these kinds of movies never had a true home. While other festivals, like Tribeca, have similar components, the Sports Film Fest is the first and only to feature movies solely about sports. Originally planned for Lake Placid, N.Y., Hartman brought the idea to Pinkenson when it wasn't getting enough attention. The fest's slate is a mix features, documentaries and repertory. Festival spokesman Joe Favorito says organizers aimed to include a wide spectrum, from baseball to running to jiu jitsu and mixed martial arts. "We wanted to make it as diverse as we possibly could and the fact they're good films helps, too," says Favorito, former head of public relations for the Sixers.

Each film takes its own approach to looking at sport. The feature Sugar, which garnered buzz at this year's Sundance and comes from Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the writing-directing team behind 2006's Half Nelson,follows a Dominican baseball player recruited to play in the minor leagues. Pittsburgh Passion is a doc about a women's football team who play just as hard as their male counterparts, but have to hold down day jobs and make their own travel arrangements.

The slate of rep films honors producer Mark Ciardi, who had a hand in the scheduled The Rookie, Miracle and Invincible — the latter about amateur-turned-Eagle Vince Papale.

The Phillies may or may not end our dry spell, but there's always a chance for a happy ending at the movies.

(molly.eichel@citypaper.net)

The U.S. Sports Film Festival runs Oct. 23 to 26, $10-$180, visit ussportsfilmfestival.com for more info.