Keepers of the Game

I just witnessed what may be the best sports documentary I've ever seen in "Keepers of the Game." I think this does indeed top "Hoop Dreams." This movie has 25 votes on IMDb so no one has seen this movie, but I hope it starts getting the attention it deserves. This movie takes place in upstate New York on a Mohawk Native American Reservation. Teenage female members of the tribe want to play lacrosse, a sport created by their ancestors, but meet immediate resistance by public funding at their school, chastisements from their fellow students and worst of all, outright denial by their tribe (since they are women). This movie captures all of that conflict with adept understanding. There are moments littered throughout the first 20 minutes where I genuinely cried as I felt as squeezed and walked over as these girls. It does an absolutely marvelous job of putting the viewer in their head-space.

And as a sports movie, this picture somehow finds the appropriate tone, whether by editing style, music, or where to put the camera, for every individual lacrosse match. On the fly, they seem to figure out the story-line of the game and cinematically capture that. Unbelievably adept filmmaking. I could not recommend this movie highly enough. It's on Netflix Instant right now. Go view this.