Training Rules
USA 2008, 58 min
African-American Jennifer Harris spent her life training to become a champion basketball player, but her name will forever be synonymous with her fight to challenge the discriminatory practices of a powerful coach.
Broomall, Pennsylvania native Rene Portland’s list of accomplishments is long: she was a star player with the Mighty Macs of Immaculata Collage (with three national championships and a second place finish in her four years there); twice voted “Coach of the Year” by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA); and head coach of Penn State’s women’s basketball team, the Lady Lions, for 27 of her 31 years as a college basketball head coach. She's a fierce competitor and a proven winner on the court, and part of that success may have been her strictly enforced policies of no drinking, no drugs and no lesbians. Star high school player Jennifer Harris entered Penn State and became a starting member of the team only to find herself inexplicably removed two years later. Academy Award nominated filmmaker Dee Mosbacher (Radical Harmonies, No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon) examines Portland’s coaching environment and the impact that the controversial case Harris v Portland and Penn State had on Harris and her parents Pearl and Lambert Harris (under the terms of settlement, their daughter is forbidden to discuss the case), as well as six other women who have suffered emotional scars, the loss of scholarships and the end of promising basketball careers when their sexual orientation was discovered. -- Carol Coombes
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This Program includes the short(s):
Lady Trojans
(
USA, 2008,
58 min
, Elizabeth Hesik
)
Who knew that Tucson, Arizona was a hotbed for scholastic lesbians in the early ’90s? Focused on the Catalina Lady Trojans, this incredibly endearing piece follows a group of young athletes who scored points for the home team while zealously exploring their sexuality off the court. While the players formed a secret dyke society, the camaraderie of competitive sports came crashing up against the bliss and jealously of young romance. At the center of it all was cute and perky Anna Hesik who, along with her half-sister Elizabeth (the film’s director), captured everything from basketball games to slumber parties. As Anna blossomed, she fell passionately in love with Quinn — a senior and the team’s “mac daddy.” It is fascinating to see how differently they reflect on their teenage years. Eventually turning her lens on each member of the Lady Trojans, Hesik skillfully intertwines often funny video footage, entertaining animation and intriguing interviews that accurately recall the intensity of youthful experimentation among friends against the backdrop of the basketball court.
Purchase Tickets
Saturday, July 18, 4:45 PM Prince Music Theater
Tickets at Venue
|
Sunday, July 19, 9:00 PM Ritz East 2
Tickets at Venue
|
Guests and Events
Director Dee Mosbacher will receive the Barabara Gittings Award at the July 18th screening and will be present at both screenings for Q&A after the film.
Join us at Stir on Saturday, July 18 to raise a toast to Dee Mosbacher and Barbara Gittings
Director: Diane Mosbacher, Fawn Yacker
Screenwriter(s): Gail Mallimson, Dee Mosbacher, Fawn Yacker
Producer(s): Diane Mosbacher, Fawn Yacker
Cinematographer: Fawn Yacker
Editor(s): Gail Mallimson
Gina Liebrecht
Diane Mosbacher, Fawn Yacker's Filmography: Diane Mosbacher: Radical Harmonies (2002); All God's Children (2001); Straight from the Heart (1994)
Print Source:
Wolfe Releasing