In both amateur and professional sports, being gay remains taboo. Few dare to come out of the closet for fear of being stigmatized, and for many, the pressure to perform is compounded by a further strain: whether or not to affirm their sexual identity. Standing on the Line takes a fresh and often moving look at some of our gay athletes, who share their experiences with the camera. They’ve set out to overcome prejudice in the hopes of changing things for the athletes of tomorrow.
How to Win the Ashes (2023)
A deep dive into one of the fiercest rivalries in sport. Unearthing stories from the most unforgettable series, a look at what it takes to lift the most famous cricket trophy, the Ashes urn. Through in-depth interviews with cricket legends including Ben Stokes, Jimmy Anderson and Glenn McGrath, this documentary relives the on-field heroics and lifts the lid on the behind-the-scenes turmoil, revealing a darker side to the pursuit of success.
Fisticuffs (1938)
This Pete Smith Specialty short showcases former heavyweight boxing champion Max Baer with various sparring partners in the ring. Slow motion is used to illustrate how Baer uses his skills.
Les yeux dans les Bleus (1998)
This documentary follows the French soccer team on their way to victory in the 1998 World Cup in France. Stéphane Meunier spent the whole time filming the players, the coach and some other important characters of this victory, giving us a very intimate and nice view of them, as if we were with them.
The Circle (2014)
A young teacher in Zurich in the 1950s falls in love with a transvestite star but is torn between his bourgeois existence and his commitment to homosexuality. He joins a gay organization that is eventually seen as the pioneer of gay emancipation in Europe.
Bobby Cassidy: Counterpuncher (2010)
A deeply human portrait of a boxer with the heart of a lion who refused to give up, in and outside of the ring. This documentary follows the fighter's life from a child who was taught how to hate, to a father who learned how to love.
100 Years of Australian Football (1996)
Based on the book published the same year, 100 Years of Australian Football explores the 100 year past of Australia's national game. Covering the history of the Victorian/Australian Football League covering the period 1897 to 1996, the documentary is an exhilarating chronicle, including lively reporting and analysis of the big issues and stirring accounts of the legendary players, teams and coaches.
Niki Nationale - Ein Leben in der Pole-Position (2019)
A look back at the eventful life of Niki Lauda. The documentary tells of Lauda's childhood, his meteoric career in motorsport, marked by his dramatic accident and his unique comeback, right up to the end of his racing career, as well as Niki Lauda's reorientation as a pilot, airline manager and clever entrepreneur.
David Beckham: Infamous (2022)
David Beckham, a household name, footballing icon and at one point the most hated man in England. A comprehensive look at David Beckham's footballing career focusing on his England redemption, World Cup dreams, trial by media and becoming brand Becks. From humble beginnings in Leytonstone to achieving England's most capped outfield player, winning the illustrious treble and becoming the highest-paid player of all time, Beckham truly is a modern-day phenom. Taking on brand deals and appearances Beckham became the most commercially valuable player in the world playing for Goliaths, Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan. There is no doubting the commercial success of brand Becks and when a player wins as much silverware as Beckham, there's no doubting their playing career either.
Sandra Bernhard: Confessions of a Pretty Lady (1994)
Bernhard, an actress-comedienne whose brassy humor attracts a cult-like following, here offers a semiconfessional view of her life's landscape. Childhood memories of her father, a doctor, and her mother, an artist, are warmly rendered in scenes of the Jewish family amiably accommodating itself to the Christmas season, and of the obligatory communal vacations joined by colorful relatives. The abrupt transition to a flamboyant denizen of "downtowns," Los Angeles or New York, to an existence as a character in the lives of marginal people, is evoked in sharply satirical terms, in a melange of humorous fact and fiction, monologues akin to those that make Bernhard an icon of pop culture.
The LA Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (2006)
The LA Sisters are outrageous, controversial, always fabulously dressed men and women who feel they are called to minster to the community as 21st century nuns.
The Fabulous Ones (2022)
It often happens that at the moment of death, transgender individuals are shorn of their identity. Their families are ashamed, the funeral takes place in secret, and on the tomb appears the name the deceased had before their transition, in one stroke nullifying the entire life path they had chosen. The same thing happened to Antonia. Her girlfriends gather to honor her memory and give her back her identity denied. In telling her story, the film’s stars, all drawn from the variegated transgender world, interweave the narrative with tales of their own lives, experiences, and memories.
F1 2016 Official Review (2016)
Thirty four years after his father, Nico Rosberg, followed in Keke's footsteps to become Formula 1 World Champion, creating only the second father-son pairing to win the title alongside Graham and Damon Hill. It was a fight that swung back and forth between the two main protagonists. Nico kicked off the season with four consecutive wins while Lewis was slow off the mark thanks to bad starts and poor reliability. Team relations were pushed to the limit as the drivers' rivalry stepped up a gear. With clashes both on and off track, their ruthless pursuit of the title left their relationship in tatters. The drama went down to the final round in Abu Dhabi. Lewis had nothing to lose while Nico had to keep his cool.
Football As Never Before (1971)
In this film, we follow footballer George Best over a 90-minute match against Coventry City, which took place on 12th September 1970. There is no soundtrack and no interview overlaid, just Best doing what he did best - playing football.
Your Call Is Important To Us (2023)
The only thing colder than a Canadian winter is Canadian bureaucracy (probably). Based on five real life stories, Romy Boutin St-Pierre and Joe Nadeau pay homage to the nation-wide stress headache of phone calls with the government in this surprising short.
Lemonade + Ducktape Stuffs (2015)
Lemonade and Ducktape Stuffs is a film about quitting. Giving up on the everyday routine and having fun. It was time to say farewell to appeasing the masses and check out. It's not easy. Actually it's really hard. Thats what makes it right. This how we want to be remembered.
Trade Center (2021)
The voices of five gay men who cruised for sex at the World Trade Center in the 1980s and 1990s haunt the sanitized, commerce-driven landscape that is the newly rebuilt Freedom Tower campus.
The Fall of '55 (2006)
In late 1955 and early 1956, the citizens of Boise, Idaho believed there was a menace in their midst. On Halloween, investigators arrested three men on charges of having sex with teenage boys. The investigators claimed the arrests were just the tip of the iceberg-they said hundreds of boys were being abused as part of a child sex ring. There was no such ring, but the result was a widespread investigation which some people consider a witch hunt. By the time the investigation ended, 16 men were charged. Countless other lives were also touched.In some cases, men implicated fled the area. At least one actually left the country. The investigation attracted attention in newspapers across the nation, including Time Magazine. The "Morals Drive" left scars which remain to this day.
A Queer Refugee’s Suitcase (2019)
The story of a young gay man who faced persecution due to his sexuality and made a frightening journey to the UK with just a suitcase.