Hoop Dreams (1994)

Film: Hoop Dreams

Director: Steve James

Country: USA

Released: October 1994

Runtime: 171 minutes

Genre: Sports Film

Studio: Kartemquin Films

Influenced: Ramin Bahrani, Tracy Droz, Nanette Burstein, Marius A. Markevicius, Ava DuVernay

Originally intended to be a 30-minute special by US public broadcaster PBS, Steve James' basketball documentary Hoop Dreams was expanded into a three-hour movie due to the richness of the subjects' stories. The film's initial budget was only $15,000, but it eventually received substantial funding from various sources, including the National Endowment for the Arts. Hoop Dreams follows the lives of William Gates and Arthur Agee, two young African-American basketball talents from poor families in Chicago's inner city. After the director spent more time with his subjects, he realised that their stories were much more complex and profound than initially anticipated, which meant the project evolved into a feature-length documentary spanning a five-year period. 

Hoop Dreams starts with the recruitment of William and Arthur by St Joseph High School, a predominantly white school in the suburbs, where they hope to secure a better future through basketball scholarships. The documentary chronicles the challenges, triumphs and setbacks that the two young men face on their journey, including injuries, academic struggles and the pressures of the college basketball recruitment process. The film provides an unflinching look at issues such as race, class, parenting and the pursuit of the American Dream, showcasing the harsh realities faced by young athletes from disadvantaged backgrounds. As well as being a documentary about social inequality, Hoop Dreams is also a highly entertaining sports films, including my favourite sequence when Arthur is enrolled in a Chicago high school and leads his unranked team to the city championship. He and his teammates then travel "downstate", to play for the state title. 

It's a glorious moment of redemption for Agee and his father Bo, who faces his own struggles and is not always able to provide the consistent emotional and financial support that Arthur and his family need. In one scene, Arthur's parents are seen walking across the University of Illinois campus, where the state title game will be played, a poignant moment when they observe that every child should have the experience of attending such a school. Likewise, William's father isn't a constant presence in his life, another barrier that William and his family face as they try to support his basketball dreams and navigate their daily lives. As well as family struggles, we also see the difficulties Arthur and William encounter when it comes to satisfying the academic requirements of their scholarships, and in this way the documentary emphasises the importance of education as a pathway to success, not just in basketball but in life.

After release, Hoop Dreams received widespread critical acclaim and won numerous awards, including the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award for Best Documentary. It's now widely cited as one of the greatest sports films and documentaries of all time, and also one of the first to use personal video cameras, allowing for a more intimate portrayal of the characters' lives. One of the many things I love about Hoop Dreams is the way it showcases the camaraderie and friendship between the two young athletes, even when their paths diverge. Both William and Arthur continued to play basketball after the events of the film, at Marquette University and Arkansas State University respectively, but ultimately neither made it to the NBA. Their friendship remains, though, and they now have their own podcast together. One thing the film makes clear is that, for every Michael Jordan or Isiah Thomas, there are legions of kids like Arthur and William who will never attain the glory and wealth they (and their parents) dream about.