In celebration of SLAM’s 30th anniversary, we’re hyped to announce the first-ever film festival exclusively focused on basketball.
RTG Features have partnered with Heartland Film to launch the first annual event, which will take place February 16-18, 2024 at Living Room Theaters in Indianapolis. There will be a mix of world premiere titles, recent festival circuit favorites and iconic films.
In addition to screenings and post-screening Q&As, the festival will also feature panel conversations with filmmakers, player-owned production companies, and network executives in the sports film and documentary space. ESPN Films, celebrating the 15th anniversary of their award-winning 30 for 30 series this year, joins the festival as a Supporting Sponsor and will host a must-see conversation looking back at the basketball documentaries they’ve produced.
Check out the full lineup below.
Above the Rim
In New York City, where thousands of teenagers compete for very few chances to play professional basketball—and the fame and money that come with it—one talented young man must choose between a scholarship to college and immediate wealth in this drama set on the blacktop courts of Harlem.
Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks
Reggie Miller single-handedly crushed the hearts of Knick fans multiple times. But it was the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals that solidified Miller as Public Enemy #1 in New York City.
Hoop Dreams
Two ordinary inner-city Chicago kids dare to reach for the impossible—professional basketball glory—in this epic chronicle of hope and faith. Filmed over a five-year period, Hoop Dreams follows young Arthur Agee and William Gates and their families as the boys navigate the complex, competitive world of scholastic athletics, while dealing with the intense pressures of their home lives and neighborhoods.
Director Steve James and film subjects Arthur Agee and William Gates join us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.
Amongst the Trees
Amongst the Trees follows an upstart men’s basketball program at Copper Mountain College—a tiny community college in the middle of the Mojave Desert in Joshua Tree, California—during the final week of their season. In just its second year of the team’s existence, the film drops viewers directly into the action as the Fighting Cacti make one last push for the playoffs.
Executive Producer Paul George and director/producer Jack Jensen join us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.
Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot
In 2006, the top 24 high school basketball players in the nation descended on Harlem’s Rucker Park to compete in the first annual Elite 24. Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot follows eight of those players as they showcase their skills at the most legendary playground in the world.
The Syd & TP Show
World Champions and bench warming besties Sydney Colson and Theresa Plaisance are determined to become the faces of the WNBA, despite the fact no one asked them to. This buddy comedy series follows Syd and TP on their quest to become the most famous basketball players on earth through a mix of stunts, interviews, hijinks and a complete lack of shame.
This 90-min event will feature Syd and TP doing a standup routine, screening the pilot episode and a reel of the funniest sketches from their series, and a panel conversation and Q&A. This event will also be filmed for Season 2 of “The Syd + TP Show” so dress to impress! By purchasing a ticket and/or being present at the event you are consenting to be filmed for “The Syd + TP Show.”
Perfect in ’76
Revisit the journey of the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers and their renowned coach Bobby Knight who led the team to a perfect season of 32-0 and a national championship.
Stephen Curry: Underrated
Stephen Curry’s former Davidson teammate, Jason Richards, joins us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.
Candace Parker: Unapologetic
A wide-ranging, revealing, and often intimate portrait of WNBA player Candace Parker, one of the most transcendent women’s sports stars in history.
Candace Parker joins us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.
D. Wade: Life Unexpected
For a decade, Dwyane Wade intimately documented his life and career with a film crew. The result is a remarkably candid portrait of one of the greatest NBA players of all time.
Blue Chips
Championship-winning coach Pete Bell runs the cleanest program in college basketball. But when he finds himself on the brink of his first losing season, Bell decides he must make a risky trade to protect his job: under-the-table dollars for talent.
Shattered Glass: A WNBPA Story
This trailblazing documentary is an exhilarating journey into the heart of professional women’s basketball, spotlighting the extraordinary lives, resilience, and triumphant achievements of WNBA MVPs Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Nneka Ogwumike, and Sheryl Swoopes.
Director/producer Andrea Buccilla and WNBPA Executive Director Terri Carmichael Jackson join us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.
Handle With Care: The Legend of The Notic Streetball Crew
Handle With Care: The Legend of The Notic Streetball Crew chronicles the rise, fall and rebirth of The Notic, an upstart streetball collective from Canada in the early 2000s. While their creative basketball moves brought them global fame as teenagers, it set them at odds with the status quo in a battle involving self-expression, race and rejection. Driven by a twenty-year quest to finish their mixtape trilogy, the documentary charts how the group of friends from Vancouver played outside the confines of the NBA yet still left an indelible imprint on the game forever.
Directors Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux and Kirk Thomas join us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.
Chang Can Dunk
Chang Can Dunk follows Chang, a 16-year-old, Asian American high school student in the marching band, who bets the school basketball star that he can dunk by Homecoming.
Writer/director Jingyi Shao and members of the cast join us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.
Game Change Game
Game Change Game tells the story of a tumultuous basketball season plagued by once unimaginable circumstances.
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The SLAM Film Festival is the FIRST-EVER Basketball-Focused Event: Buy Tickets, Full Lineup
