Tennis Documentary "Unstrung"

Nuke

Nuke

Hall of Fame
The TriBeCa Film Festival is screening a new documentary called Unstrung. This looks like it might be of interest to lots of folks here. Donald Young and Sam Querry, among others, are the subjects of the film. I hope it does well enough at the film festival to get some distribution deal, so it can find its way to local theaters.

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=8&aid=69313

"Unstrung" follows seven teenage tennis prodigies as they try to break into the top level of the sport. The documentary examines what it's like for junior players to deal with the pressure, much of it coming from their parents."

"Klug traveled thousands of miles and worked on the film for two years. To learn more about "Unstrung" and its screenings visit http://www.unstrungmovie.com."
 
Well, this film is about real tennis, not some lame romantic story line with the world of tennis as a backdrop. It might actutally be an OK movie. Documentaries are having a bit of a resurgence these days, but I'm not so sure the subject of tennis would appeal to a wide enough audience -- a movie needs to attract all sorts of folks, not just tennis fans. Most likely, this film will have a very limited distribution, but who knows? Last year, a documentary called Wordplay made the rounds of the art houses, and that one was about crossword puzzle competitors.
 
It looks like a serious, thoughtful, well-funded film. Jim Courier is one of the producers. I'd be very interested in seeing it.
 
Nuke said:
Well, this film is about real tennis, not some lame romantic story line with the world of tennis as a backdrop. It might actutally be an OK movie. Documentaries are having a bit of a resurgence these days, but I'm not so sure the subject of tennis would appeal to a wide enough audience -- a movie needs to attract all sorts of folks, not just tennis fans. Most likely, this film will have a very limited distribution, but who knows? Last year, a documentary called Wordplay made the rounds of the art houses, and that one was about crossword puzzle competitors.
Click to expand...

yeah jist like the movie players?
 
hey guys i got to see it today on espn 2 i only got to catch the last hour

it was a 2 hour block with commericials
 
Yeah, I saw it a couple weeks ago on ESPN 2. It's pretty interesting. The main footage is from before Donald Young and Sam Querry had started up on the pro tour (a few years ago), but it shows fairly recent updates on all of them as well at the end.

It's about the sport of tennis, but the focus is more on the lifestyle of those who are competing at pretty high levels and the mentality of these guys. It's pretty interesting, even though it doesn't really show that many actual matches.

It also shows you how different everybody is who competes, as well as how overbearing Donald Young's mother is.
 
i saw this on after the french today, and it was quite a good documentary...

something i found interesting was how the players who seemed to have the best attitudes and the least amount of obnoxiousness (is that a word?) throughout the entire documentary are the ones who are now having the best success (Querrey and Young)
 
It was on today on TTC right after the French open coverage and I didn't think it would be any good so I skipped it. I'll keep an eye out for it when its shown again.
 
Jon Rudy said:
Yeah, I saw it a couple weeks ago on ESPN 2. It's pretty interesting. The main footage is from before Donald Young and Sam Querry had started up on the pro tour (a few years ago), but it shows fairly recent updates on all of them as well at the end.

It's about the sport of tennis, but the focus is more on the lifestyle of those who are competing at pretty high levels and the mentality of these guys. It's pretty interesting, even though it doesn't really show that many actual matches.

It also shows you how different everybody is who competes, as well as how overbearing Donald Young's mother is.
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Thanks. Sounds like something a tennis fan would want to see but not in a movie theater.
 
upcoming broadcast times

Just went to the website and there is a link for upcoming broadcasts. It lists three dates/times, two of which have already passed, (May 3, 8pmET, ESPN Classic and May 25 "Following the French Open" on ESPN2).

The third, upcoming broadcast date/time is listed as:

July 7, ESPN2, time tbd
 
Just got a chance to sit down and watch the "Unstrung."

Other main characters (besides the young Seguso) include Donald Young and Sam Querrey.

This documentary is full of great comments from Agassi, Sampras, Courier, McEnroe, Bollettieri, etc.

Awesome.
 
scotus said:
Just got a chance to sit down and watch the "Unstrung."

Other main characters (besides the young Seguso) include Donald Young and Sam Querrey.

This documentary is full of great comments from Agassi, Sampras, Courier, McEnroe, Bollettieri, etc.

Awesome.
Click to expand...

Glad you liked it. I worked on it, and I know it was a labor of love for the producer.
 
I enjoyed the film. One thing I wondered was what happens to someone as talented as Marcus Fugate or Timothy Neilly who ascends to the top of the junior game, but doesn't seem to quite make it as a pro and doesn't wind up going to college on a scholarship. Do they become coaches?'

Tyro
 
tyro said:
I enjoyed the film. One thing I wondered was what happens to someone as talented as Marcus Fugate or Timothy Neilly who ascends to the top of the junior game, but doesn't seem to quite make it as a pro and doesn't wind up going to college on a scholarship. Do they become coaches?'

Tyro
Click to expand...

I was quite moved by Timothy Neilly's story; he has a website, but didn't respond to an e-mail. I think he and Marcus Fugate are playing Futures tournaments.
 
Unstrung exposes the dramas of the juniors tennis world, hitting the road with a handful of teenage competitors as they head for the national championship.

MPAA Rating: NOTRATED 2007 Jim Courier Presents

hxxp://www.imdb.com/title/tt1014778/


Shaolin_sword36 said:
Where can you get this documentary?
Click to expand...

I found it on youtube but the video is not available in my country. :-(

https://www.youtube.com/v/ZBVwELy_V9w

If you live in USA or Canada could you please share it (lossless) ?
There are many free files hosting services or even better, use a famous public torrent tracker if you don't mind.

Thanks!
 
seems interesting....
also cannot watch this in my country though.
google says it's on popcorn time, but it isn't :(
 
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