This August, tune-in to watch some of the most compelling sports documentaries on SONY ESPN and SONY ESPN HD Channels

Mumbai, 11 August 2017:  ESPN, in collaboration with Sony Pictures Network, presents ESPN Films, a series of documentary films showcasing the most compelling and original sports stories. ESPN Films is a series that discovers themes beyond sports. Come this August, ESPN and Sony Pictures Network will showcase four of its critically-acclaimed, Emmy and Peabody Award-winning directors of ESPN Films documentaries on SONY ESPN and SONY ESPN HD channels, every Sunday.

With riveting themes surrounding real life accounts of strength, perseverance and determination, come the month-long series of documentaries that go beyond the sporting lens to explore themes of race, culture, sportsmanship and courage. From white washed America and its racial undertones in “When the Garden Was Eden”, to the unedifying grit of the human spirit in “Angry Sky”, further exploring entwined fate of Ottorino Barassi and the Nazi government in “Mysteries of The Jules Rimet Trophy” and finally showcasing one of the game changing moments in U.S. women soccer in the film “Abby: Head on”; these documentaries are a glimpse into points in history which would captivate any sports fan.

ESPN Films schedule for the month of August:

ESPN Films are a series of documentaries that aim to showcase the individual journeys of legends, in collaboration with a range of prolific filmmakers. Launched in March 2008, ESPN Films has been on the forefront for documentary filmmaking, producing more than 100 documentaries that have showcased some of the most compelling stories in sports.

–  DESCRIPTIONS OF ESPN DOCUMENTARY FILMS SCHEDULED FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST 2017 –

ESPN Films Documentaries

“When The Garden Was Eden”

Directed by Michael Rapaport

In the early 1970s, America was being torn apart by the war in Vietnam, with racial unrest in the streets and a distrust of the White House. But there was a happier place where men of different backgrounds showed people what could happen when you worked together: Madison Square Garden. “When The Garden Was Eden” (based on the book by Harvey Araton) explores the only championship years of the New York Knicks, when they made the NBA Finals in three out of four seasons, winning two titles. Stitched together by Red Holzman, the previously mediocre Knicks might have seemed an odd collection of characters: a forward from the rarefied air of Princeton (Bill Bradley), two players from the Jim Crow South (Willis Reed and Walt Frazier), a blue-collar guy from Detroit (Dave DeBusschere), a pair of inner-city guards (Earl Monroe and Dick Barnett), even a mountain man from Deer Lodge, Montana (Phil Jackson). But by embracing their differences and utilizing their strengths, they showed the NBA and the world what it was like to play as a team. That they did it on the stage New York City provided made it all that much sweeter.

“Angry Sky”

Directed by Jeff Tremaine

In 1965, a truck driver and exotic pet dealer from New Jersey decided that he could join an elite group of men who had been to the final frontier — space. With no formal training, no college degree, and barely enough money to support his wife and three young children, he set out to take a balloon to the edge of space and jump out. If he succeeded, he’d set a world record in a free fall back to earth for nearly 17 minutes. At the height of the space race, Nick Piantanida would launch the first civilian space program. His young wife, Janice, would stand by him as he risked his life and their livelihood to achieve a dream that had become an obsession. A force of nature, Nick’s willpower, charisma and delusions of grandeur would get him into space, make him a true American hero … and lead him to a tragic end. This is the story of a man who fell madly in love with space — and the woman who fell madly in love with him.

“Mysteries of the Rimet Trophy”

Directed by Brett Ratner

Inspired by Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, the Jules Rimet trophy was awarded to the nation that won FIFA’s World Cup and was among the most coveted prizes in all of sports. It is also the sports prize shrouded in the most intrigue — with the whereabouts of the original trophy unknown to this day. This film focuses on the great prize’s first brush with crime — a Nazi plan to steal the Rimet trophy from Italy during World War II. The story unfolds like a great caper film, where our hero, Ottorino Barassi, a mild-mannered Italian soccer official, attempts to protect a valued treasure.

“Abby: Head On”

Directed by Erin Leyden and Gentry Kirby

A phenom from Rochester, NY, Abby Wambach defied convention by spurning soccer dynasty North Carolina in favor of the University of Florida, an upstart program which, at the time, was only in its fourth year of existence. That decision paid off quickly, as in her 1998 freshman season Wambach helped the Gators nab the SEC’s first and only national championship in soccer – defeating the powerhouse Tar Heels in the final.