“Wrestle” Now Streaming on PBS

Steaming now http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/videos/wrestle/

“Wrestle” goes inside the lives of four members of the high school wrestling team at Huntsville’s J.O. Johnson High School–a longstanding entry on Alabama’s list of failing schools. Teammates Jailen, Jamario, Teague, and Jaquan show that needing a win can be about much more than just beating your opponent on the mat.

Coached by teacher Chris Scribner, teammates Jailen, Jamario, Teague, and Jaquan each face challenges far beyond a shot at the State Championship: splintered family lives, drug use, teenage pregnancy, mental health struggles, and run-ins with the law threaten to derail their success on the mat and lock any doors that could otherwise open. Tough-love coach Scribner isn’t off the hook, either; he must come to terms with his own past conflicts while unwittingly wading into the complexities of race, class and privilege in the South.

Director Suzannah Herbert and Co-Director Lauren Belfer captured over 650 hours of footage during the course of the team’s final season to create this closely observed, deeply affecting depiction of growing up disadvantaged in America today.

AWARDS

• DENVER FILM FESTIVAL

  Maysles Brothers Documentary Award

• HOT SPRINGS FILM FESTIVAL

  Best Sports Documentary + Hot Springs Audience Award

• SIDEWALK FILM FESTIVAL

  Best Alabama Film + the Spirit of Sidewalk Award

• INDIE MEMPHIS FILM FESTIVAL

  Ron Tibbett Excellence in Filmmaking Award + Audience Award for Doc. Feature

• OXFORD FILM FESTIVAL

  Best Documentary Feature + The Alice Guy-Blaché Award for Emerging Female Filmmaker