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All American
TYPE: Documentary
GENRE: Documentary
STATUS: Completed
LOGLINE
In this modern, coming of age documentary, Naomi, Joanne and Arham grapple with economic divides, gender roles, and family dynamics while competing in the fastest growing high school sport in the country: girl’s wrestling.
SYNOPSIS
ALL AMERICAN follows the lives of three immigrant and first-generation high school girl wrestlers, who train and compete against both boys and girls, as their devoted coaches prepare them for competition and lives beyond high school. The film takes place during their high school and early college years and ends at present day with each character battling new, unexpected challenges in a world transformed by the pandemic. An ensemble cast of teammates and coaches provide perspective and shared experience. Family dynamics, economics and gender roles collide in this underdog story of community and found family. It is the experience on the mat which can hopefully give our girls confidence and opportunities that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
ARTISTIC STATEMENT
All American highlights widespread social issues—gender discrimination and bias, economic and racial inequality, and the intersection of these factors—by telling the story of female athletes, past and present, competing in a traditionally male combat sport. Interviews with the first generation of women wrestlers, enhanced with material from their personal archives, document the sport’s history of discrimination. This serves to contextualize the experience of our film’s protagonists. The theme of family or ‘found family’ connects all the topics within women’s high school wrestling. An ensemble cast of athletes, parents, and coaches provides perspective and insight into the realities of women in the sport. Voiceover and interviews guide the conversation, with occasional prompts or questions from behind the camera. The filmmakers’ presence is acknowledged but subtle.
KEY CREW
Mark Andrew Altschul - Director / Producer / Cinematographer
Mark Andrew, photographer, cinematographer, and director has made a career producing honest and powerful images of the everyday. He has partnered with leading advertising and branding agencies along with clients directly to create award winning campaigns and content. A few select clients include the NY Times, Pepsi, NFL, Sony, Adidas, Nike, Microsoft, Samsung and Aeromexico. Along with his narrative and documentary work, his film projects have been shown at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. His photography work is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian. He currently resides in NYC with his wife and son, but his hometown of New Orleans is always in his heart. All American is his debut film.
Evan Murphy Johnston - Editor
Evan Johnson discovered his passion for documentary film while studying at NYU’s KanbarInstitute of Film and Television. Soon after, he was learning hands-on as an assistant editor for HBO’s “Sinatra: All Or Nothing At All” and “Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge.” He helped craft Hulu’s “And We Go Green,” a film about electric-racecar drivers, PBS’s “The Oratorio,” Martin Scorsese’s “love letter to music,” and Disney’s “Afterward,” which follows an Israeli-American psychoanalyst as she probes the traumas of the Holocaust and the Israeli-Palestine conflict. He just completed editing “The King of In Between'', a documentary about singer-songwriter Garland Jeffreys.
Trish Dalton - Consulting Producer
Trish Dalton is an award-winning independent director/producer. With a focus on social issues and the arts, several of her documentaries have been used as tools for change. Trish was named one of People magazine’s ten “Women Changing the World in 2020” for directing the HBO Sports documentary Student Athlete and encouraging legislative change at the federal and state level to protect college athlete’s rights. Her film credits include Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge, Student Athlete, Election Year, Bordering on Treason, Southmost U.S.A., One Night Stand, , and Keras & Mantis. Her documentaries have broadcast on PBS, HBO and Ovation after screening at dozens of film festivals, including: SXSW, Miami, Boston Independent, Denver Starz, Nashville, True/False, DOC NYC, Full Frame, and Tribeca. She is directing two feature films that will be released on Hulu in 2024.
Maureen Hoban - Co-Producer
Maureen Hoban is a writer/producer of news and documentaries for over two decades. Through social interest programming, she puts the spotlight on underserved subjects, from the effect of porn and technology on our culture (Netflix’s Hot Girls Wanted) to the experiences of the chronically ill (Netflix’s Afflicted) to the lives of addicts and alcoholics across America (A&E’s Intervention.)Her experience includes arc-ed docuseries, anthologies, informational programming and intimate verite, all with the goal of spreading compassion and understanding in the culture through the exploration of complex subject matter. Her work has been featured on HBO, Netflix, Amazon, NBC, TNT and A&E, has premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won PRISM, Vision and Emmy Awards.
Jacob Bloomfield-Misrach - Composer
Jacob Bloomfield-Misrach is an award winning composer, mixer and sound designer. He owns the post production company IMRSV Sound, and has expanded the company nationally, taking over Berkeley Sound Artists. Jacob now oversees 100 projects per year for clients like A24, Marvel, Google, and Apple. He recently composed the score for the TV Series Perfect Sweat, and sound designed the Emmy Award winning film Krimes. He was also the designer and mixer for the A24/Apple film Stephen Curry: Underrated, and was the Supervisor for the Sundance Award winning film, Crip Camp, which was released by Netflix and the Obama's, and nominated for an Academy Award.
William Sammons - Composer
William Sammons is a composer, sound designer, and sonic explorer. William has worked in film and television for the past decade, leading sound design and dialogue editing for hundreds of projects. He produces and composes music for a range of media – including films, audio installations, video games, and modern dance. William was a touring musician before earning degrees in sound art and interactive audio. This background created a versatile blend of artistry and technical expertise to draw from in his never-ending pursuit of sonic excellence.
Amelie Chabannes - Animator
Amelie Chabannes is a French American artist who works in Drawing, Painting, and Animation Film. She is the main artist on the PBS American Masters artistically animated film series Unladylike2020 Season 1, 26 first episodes on diverse and little-known, Historical American heroines which has received over 6 million views to date. Her artwork has been exhibited internationally and is held in many private collections and museums. Chabannes currently lives and works in between Brooklyn, NY and Paris, France. Chabannes is currently working on two new film series and on a large visual art project funded by private contemporary art collections.
Kyra Tirana Barry - Contributing Producer
Kyra Tirana Barry is a passionate leader and tireless advocate for girls, women and underserved communities in sport focusing on wrestling and soccer. Kyra is currently the chair of the Committee to Advance Women’s Wrestling, which brings together all major wrestling stakeholders to support growth, a member of D1 Women’s Wrestling, promoting the growth of NCAA varsity programs, and the Chair of the NY State Task Force on Girls Wrestling. Kyra was Team Leader for the 2016 USA Women's Wrestling Olympic Team and was USA Wrestling’s Woman of the Year in 2015.
Kyra spent over a decade promoting sports-based youth development for underserved communities as the President of Beat the Streets New York; and, as founding Chair of Beat the Streets National, which brings together all US BTS city programs to elevate the mission and expand the reach; and continues today as a member of the US Soccer Foundation Board and co-chair of the Foundation's NY Leadership Council.
Connect With The Filmmakers:
ACCOLADES
UPDATE - April 24, 2024
All American is currently finazing post production and will begin its festival run starting in June 2024.
UPDATE - January 10, 2023
All American was honored to be accepted to Doc NYC Industry Rountables which was co presented by Showtime.
The competitively selected film teams that particpated in this year’s program included first-time directors and long-time industry veterans from across the world, including Canada, Finland, France, Iraq, Israel, Mexico, Norway, Qatar and the United States.
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