Film is shown: Sat. & Sun. at 11am only, and Mon.-Thurs. at 7:15 only. Unrated: May contain subject matter and language, 104 min.
Kevin Willmott is an Associate Professor in the Film Studies Department at the University of Kansas--but he also educates (and entertains) through the medium of film itself, writing, producing, and directing provocative, fascinating movies that illuminate areas of American culture that mainstream films have ignored. His breakthrough feature was "C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America," a mockumentary detailing life in an alternative universe United States--one where the South won the Civil War. Willmott followed this with other hard-hitting explorations of race, history, and human dignity, including "Bunker Hill" and "The Only Good Indian." Willmott, a Junction City native, is a true independent filmmaker, with no studio mandating his content or tempering his artistic vision. His latest film (partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign) focuses on a subject close to home: KU basketball in the 1950s. Originally planned as a Wilt Chamberlain biopic, Willmott and co-producer/co-writer Scott Richardson widened the canvas to deal with the racial and social barriers confronted by KU Chancellor Franklin Murphy, Coach Dick Harp and former coach Forrest "Phog" Allen, and all the Jayhawk players on the legendary 1957 team. This is a story not just about a basketball team becoming integrated, but how a community dealt with integration--a precursor to the more violent clashes that would characterize much of the Civil Rights Movement nationwide in the 1960s. The film culminates in one of the most exciting National Championship games in NCCA Men's Division I Basketball history, a triple-overtime thriller pitting Kansas against undefeated North Carolina--but even more exciting is how the Jayhawks solidified into a team and became pioneers for racial integration. Moviegoers don't need to be fans of Wilt Chamberlain, college basketball, or KU to get caught up in the fasinating Kansas history (the film takes place only a year after the famous Brown vs. Board of Education lawsuit) and timeless, uplifting human story. With fine performances from newcomer Justin Wesley as Chamberlain, Kansas City native Kip Niven as Allen, KU alum Jay Karnes as Murphy, and many other Kansas-born or -raised actors, Willmott's finely-crafted film has a sense of authenticity, real involvement, honesty, and spiritual kinship with the Midwest that the most well-intentioned Hollywood films can't touch.
Call the Cinema for showtimes and pricing: 785-452-9868.