The Anderson Monarchs

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Location(s)

Tuesday, May 15, 7:00PM
Ibrahim Theater @ International House
3701 Chestnut Street
$10, $8 students/seniors, $5 Scribe, IHP, PIFVA members

Director Eugene Martin and members
of the Anderson Monarchs Soccer Team in person

Presented in partnership with Film @ International House and Philadelphia Independent Film & Video Association (PIFVA)

The Anderson Monarchs is about an all-girls soccer team (who are primarily African-American) competing, living, and thriving in South Philadelphia. The team named after singer Marian Anderson, was hailed as “the future of American Soccer” in the London newspaper, The Guardian, and was nominated in 2008 by Sports Illustrated as “Sports Team” of the year. The documentary follows two girls, Jlon, age 11, and Kahlaa, age 10, through their formative years from 2009 to 2011. As the girls grow as soccer players, they learn more about their own abilities. As they become more confident in school, barriers begin to fall. Bodies and minds become healthier, aspirations expand and new dreams are formed.

Marian Anderson, when asked about the time when she was denied the right to sing in Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., replied, “I had no bitterness and I have no bitterness now, because we look for bigger things, and if you’re all right on the inside, you don’t have to worry about things like that”(See it Now, CBS News). The Anderson Monarchs, like their namesake Marian Anderson, are making history. The team is led by their dedicated Coach Walter Stewart. Coach Stewart gave up a partnership at a center city law firm to teach elementary school and coach full time. By seeking a level playing field, they are changing how they are perceived. They are also setting the stage for other girls far and wide to walk in their footsteps. The real messages of the film are grounded in social justice, the right to be treated equally, and freedom. Most importantly, the film celebrates the rights of young women and the community they are building for themselves as talented athletes, emerging scholars, and leaders. (USA, 2012, 93 min)

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Instructor bio: Born in Philadelphia, Martin received his BA and MFA in filmmaking from Temple University. Martin was an early instructor at Scribe Video Center in the 1990’s. He is a filmmaker whose work looks intimately at issues of youth, the inner city, poverty, and social justice. Martin has written and directed seven feature length films: Edge City (1998), Diary of a City Priest, starring acclaimed actor David Morse (2001), The Other America (2004), and The Anderson Monarchs (2012).

His films have been screened in more than 25 countries and been invited to more than 100 film festivals. His debut narrative feature film, Two Plus One, was part of the inaugural Slamdance Film Festival in 1995. Edge City won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1998 Hamptons International Film Festival. Diary of a City Priest was an official selection at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. In 2003, Lions Gate and Sony released Edge City in partnership with Palm Pictures. In 2008, The Other America was selected as a national winner in the online From Here to Awesome film festival. Martin's films have screened nationally on PBS, Comcast, the BBC, at the DGA, the National Gallery of Art; and are available online via Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix. Funders of his works include The Independent Television Service (ITVS), The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Philadelphia Foundation, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the American Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Texas Filmmakers Fund, and the Sundance Documentary Fund.

Martin is on faculty at the University of North Texas in the Radio-TV-Film Department where he teaches Directing, Screenwriting, and 16mm Filmmaking for both narrative and documentary.

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Producers' Forums are supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.