A man and a woman push a girl who sits inside of a shopping cart filled with tennis balls.
Screenings
Part of the series CANCELED: MoMA Contenders 2021

CANCELED: King Richard, with Zach Baylin

  • This is a past program
This program has been canceled.

Screening followed by Q&A screenwriter Zach Baylin

American sports films frequently mythologize athletes, but rarely are those athletes a pair of Black girls. In King Richard, we are introduced to young Venus and Serena Williams and their idiosyncratic father and coach, Richard. Will Smith and Aunjanue Ellis (in a powerful, scene-stealing role as Venus and Serena’s mother) lead an outstanding ensemble cast, as we follow the rise of the Williams sisters from practicing at a Compton park to their first brushes with professional success. Director Reinaldo Marcus Greene (Monsters and Men) catapults what could be a classic biopic into the stratosphere, crafting a celebration of resilience and a family’s ability to blaze their own path. (Courtesy of Warner Bros.) 

(2021, dir. Reinaldo Marcus Green, color, 138 min.)

This film program is organized by Rajendra Roy, The Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film, and Sean Egan, Producer, Film Exhibitions and Special Projects, The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
 
The Hammer Museum's presentation is made possible by The Billy and Audrey L. Wilder Foundation.