Now in play and running through May 1st, Tribeca, with partner ESPN, present a compelling and diverse slate of sports documentary films in its 10th annual gathering throughout New York City.
Cricket, boxing, tennis, the UFC, baseball and basketball are the sports providing the backdrop for this year’s main titles.
In Off the Rez, Shoni Schimmel, a Umatilla Indian and one of the best high school basketball players in the country, dreams of being the first from her tribe to get a college scholarship. Shoni and her mother/coach Ceci battle together to redeem generations of struggle for their family and their people, but her hoop dreams are threatened after her family leaves the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
The star of Renee, was former male tennis ace Dick Raskind, who after getting married and having a son, was reborn as Renée Richards. Renée was still dynamite on the tennis court, but being the first transsexual player in the women’s US Open would put her in a spotlight she—or her troubled son—couldn’t escape.
Far from the deep end is a small surfing gem called Splinters. In the remote seaside village of Vanimo in Papua New Guinea, there are hardly any jobs—but there are infinite prime waves. Twenty years after the first board was introduced on the island, surfing has become a way of life. This spirited documentary, tinged by joyful music and fascinating glimpses into a rare culture, follows four local surfers competing in the country’s first-ever national surfing championships in the hopes their surfboards will carry them to a better life.
Ultimate Fighting is also presented Like Water which follows middleweight Anderson Silva as he prepares to crown his four-year unbeaten streak as king of the sport with a record 12th straight win in the UFC. 
Boxing has never had a pair of towering and cerebral brothers dominate like those profiled here in Klitschko. Six-foot-six Ukrainian brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko emigrated to Germany to begin careers in heavyweight boxing in 1996, and the sport was never the same. After a 15-year reign over the ring, they made history in 2008, becoming the first brothers in the sport to hold world titles at the same time.
Cricket as a vehicle for social change is behind Fire in Babylon. Played against the backdrop of the national liberation movements of the ’70s and ’80s, this documentary pays tribute to the golden age of cricket in the West Indies as the teammates set out to triumph over their former colonial masters and make a name for themselves on the world stage. The film includes some fine tunes to featuring Bob Marley, Gregory Isaacs, and Burning Spear.
And what doesn’t capture the hard luck of Cub fans than Catching Hell, a film about the beloved franchise’s most infamous play AND it was foul. When Chicagoan Steve Bartman fatefully deflected a foul ball in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, the city’s long-suffering Cubs fans found someone new to blame for their cursed century without a World Series title. Oscar®-winning director Alex Gibney explores the psychology of die-hard sports fans, the frightening phenomenon of scapegoating, and the hysteria that turned mild-mannered Bartman into the most hated man in Chicago.
