On the Line: The Richard Williams Story (2022)

2022-06-121h 32m

Told in his own words using interviews spanning from the 1980s through now, father and tennis coach Richard Williams retraces his family's journey from the courts in Compton to the grass at Wimbledon, defying every custom of the lily-white tennis establishment and fighting back against a system of oppression to raise two of the greatest champions in history - Venus and Serena Williams.

Related Movies

440719-thumbnail

Terry Pratchett: Back in Black (2017)

A poignant and humorous film telling the life story of the hugely popular author of the discworld series of books, in his own words.

814505-thumbnail

Parallel Lives (2021)

Born June 8, 1964, Frank Matter films four "twins", born the same day as him, but in other latitudes. Interweaving their life stories with rich archival material, the filmmaker links these Parallel Lives with elements from his own biography, to compose a fascinating fresco where intimate trajectories are part of the advent of the global village.

1357239-thumbnail

Blade Rollers (2024)

Honour West and Joan Camuglia-May share their experiences in this upbeat roller-skating documentary.

612235-thumbnail

Wimbledon 2018 - Official Film Review (2018)

The Official Wimbledon Film 2018 delivers an engaging insight into the very best action, on and off the court, at the most famous and revered tennis tournament in the world. Documenting the progress of former champions, challengers and eventual winners as they progress through the fortnight, witnessing the shock results unfold and delving into Wimbledon's unique attributes across the grounds.

850990-thumbnail

Citizen Ashe (2021)

Follows the life and career of Arthur Ashe.

1391116-thumbnail

¡Qué suerte hemos tenido! (2024)

862582-thumbnail

Untold: Breaking Point (2021)

Under pressure to continue a winning tradition in American tennis, Mardy Fish faced mental health challenges that changed his life on and off the court.

1027875-thumbnail

Jan (2013)

490818-thumbnail

Seeing Allred (2018)

Gloria Allred overcame trauma and personal setbacks to become one of the nation’s most famous women’s rights attorneys. Now the feminist firebrand takes on two of the biggest adversaries of her career, Bill Cosby and Donald Trump, as sexual violence allegations grip the nation and keep her in the spotlight.

57976-thumbnail

Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997)

Three decades after German-American pilot Dieter Dengler was shot down over Laos, he returns to the places where he was held prisoner during the early years of the Vietnam War. Accompanied by director Werner Herzog, Dengler describes in unusually candid detail his captivity, the friendships he made, and his daring escape. Not willing to stop there, Herzog even persuades his subject to re-enact certain tortures, with the help of some willing local villagers.

1369821-thumbnail

Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story (2024)

The incredible true story of how Jelena Dokic became a tennis star while surviving war, bullying and extreme domestic violence at the hands of Damir Dokic, the tennis father from hell.

499555-thumbnail

John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection (2018)

An immersive film essay on tennis legend John McEnroe at the height of his career as the world champion, documenting his strive for perfection, frustrations, and the hardest loss of his career at the 1984 Roland-Garros French Open.

328978-thumbnail

Venus VS. (2013)

We know about the swing. We know about the swagger. But what most Americans don't know about Venus Williams is how she changed the course of her sport. In a stunning case that captured the European public beginning in 2005, Williams challenged the long-held practice of paying women tennis players less than their male counterparts at Wimbledon. With a deep sense of obligation to the legacy of Billie Jean King, Williams lobbied British Parliament, UNESCO and Fleet Street for financial parity. And it was her poignant op-ed piece in The London Times that convinced many people that the Wimbledon tournament organizers were "on the wrong side of history." Roland Garros and Wimbledon finally relented in 2007. That year at Wimbledon, Venus became the first women's champion to earn as much as the men's singles winner (Roger Federer). VENUS VS. chronicles Williams' fight for pay equality.

1248979-thumbnail

Novak Djokovic: Refuse to Lose (2022)

Novak Djokovic, one of the greatest tennis players of all time. With 86 ATP singles titles, 37 Masters events and 20 Grand Slam's, few tennis players have achieved what Djokovic has. Currently ranked world number one and a record total of 365 weeks on top, Djokovic has dominated the sport for the last 10 years. Things have not always been easy for the world number one. Born in war-torn Belgrade, Serbia, Djokovic developed his skills in some of the harshest conditions imaginable. Despite this he rose to the top of the professional tennis rankings, becoming a national icon and a symbol of unity for the Serbian people.

1262310-thumbnail

Nasty (2024)

1972 was a turning point in Ilie Nastase's career: he won his first US Open, while also reaching both Wimbledon and Davis Cup finals. Moving back and forth in time and featuring amazing archive footage and exclusive interviews with top athletes, the documentary explores Nastase's highs and lows, the controversies that surrounded him and the enduring impact he has had on the world of tennis. Lovable, charming and generous, yet temperamental, arrogant and obscene, Mr. Nice'n'Nasty disrupted the old-fashioned etiquette of the sport in the 70s thus becoming its first rebel rock star.

1071550-thumbnail

Williams Sisters (2023)

The Williams Sisters. Dominating the game for over 3 decades, Serena Williams and Venus Williams, winning every title imaginable. From inexperienced teenagers to seasoned vets nobody could have predicted the sisters' careers.

1247031-thumbnail

Federer: Twelve Final Days (2024)

Originally a home video never intended for public viewing, this film captures the final chapter in Roger Federer's legendary tennis career, featuring Roger, his family, and his three main rivals: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray.

533743-thumbnail

Strokes of Genius (2018)

The film intertwines Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's lives with their famed 2008 Wimbledon championship - an epic match so close and so reflective of their competitive balance that, in the end, the true winner was the sport itself.

361522-thumbnail

Althea (2014)

Althea Gibson’s life and achievements transcend sports. A truant from the rough streets of Harlem, Althea emerged as a most unlikely queen of the highly segregated tennis world in the 1950s. Her roots as a sharecropper’s daughter, her family’s migration north to Harlem in the 1930s, mentoring from Sugar Ray Robinson, David Dinkins and others, and fame that thrust her unwillingly into the glare of the early Civil Rights movement, all bring her story into a much broader realm of the American story.

579710-thumbnail

Unraveling Athena (2020)

Exploring the interweaving lives and narrative of female tennis royalty as told through the words of the players themselves, Unraveling Athena provides an extraordinary insight into the mind of the professional athlete and the ultimate exploration of what it takes to make a champion.