Released on DVD earlier this week: RACING DREAMS
Director Marshall Curry’s follow up to the Academy Award nominated STREET FIGHT with this coming of age profile of three young go-kart racers, which won over audiences at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival and also claimed the festival’s Best Documentary Award. It went on to claim additional jury and audience awards on its tour of the festival circuit since then. While the doc had only a limited theatrical run, DreamWorks hopes to tap into a larger potential audience through a dramatic feature adaptation that’s in development by the writers of the revitalized STAR TREK franchise.
Recognizing that the best sports documentaries are never just about the sport, Curry found three distinctive and engaging young subjects whose clearly-stated and understood goals are easy for a wide audience to connect with. Far from only appealing to niche fans, by positioning its 11-13-year-olds as Everymen facing a pivotal time when they must prove they have what it takes to take their juvenile hobby into an eventual professional adult career, the film transcends its apparent specificities to relate to any viewer who’s ever pursued a dream, whatever the context.
what (not) to doc 