The series Rialto Presenters continues on Wednesday evenings throughout June, and this month former Tongan Rugby International, Auckland and North Harbour player, sports broadcaster and commentator Willie Los’e introduces a diverse collection of sports documentaries.
The Sports Stories series begins with fish out of water story We Must Go (Wednesday 1st June, 8.30pm), a film that documents the journey of American Bob Bradley who takes on the job of coaching the Egyptian National Soccer team as they fight to reach the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The series Rialto Presenters continues on Wednesday evenings throughout June, and this month former Tongan Rugby International, Auckland and North Harbour player, sports broadcaster and commentator Willie Los’e introduces a diverse collection of sports documentaries.
The Sports Stories series begins with fish out of water story We Must Go (Wednesday 1st June, 8.30pm), a film that documents the journey of American Bob Bradley who takes on the job of coaching the Egyptian National Soccer team as they fight to reach the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
We Must Go is followed by Althea (Wednesday 8th June, 8.30pm), a moving biography of tennis legend Althea Gibson. A truant from the streets of Harlem, Althea went on to become the first African American to play at Wimbledon and Forest Hills, but struggled to make ends meet in the amateur world of sport. Her story is both hugely inspiring and devastatingly sad, and this cleverly put together documentary does an excellent job of putting Althea’s name back into the public arena.
The series then moves on to ice hockey, and those not familiar with the sport will find The Last Gladiators (Wednesday 15th June, 8.30pm), a documentary by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney, a revelation. This upfront film looks at the dark side of ice hockey through the rise and fall of famed hockey enforcer Chris ‘Knuckles’ Nilan, and his struggle to adjust to life after hockey.
It’s a brutal and honest film, much like Champs (Wednesday 22nd June, 8.30pm), a documentary that looks at the troubled lives of three of the most successful boxers of our time, Evander Holyfield, Bernard Hopkins and Mike Tyson.
And, if you’re looking for a story closer to home, wrapping up June’s Presenters Series is the critically acclaimed New Zealand documentary The Ground We Won (Wednesday 29th June, 8.30pm). This slice of life film follows a rugby team of farmers in Reporoa who are determined to redeem themselves after a long run of loses. A story about friendship, rituals and reclaiming faith, this is a quintessential New Zealand story and a must see film.
It’s a powerful collection of diverse documentaries curated by Willie Los’e, who kindly took the time to have a chat about his thoughts on the films that resonated with him.
Rialto: Thanks for taking the time to have a quick chat. First of all, tell us a little about your taste in cinema – what kind of movies do you enjoy?
WL: Action and drama like all the Bond movies, but also a good storyline. In particularly, NZ-made such as Once Were Warriors, The Dark Horse & Hunt For the Wilderpeople... laughed all the way through it.
Rialto: Why do sports stories make for such powerful films?
WL: They portray the good and bad of sport at both the professional and amateur era. Sport has the ability to breakdown the barriers of colour, culture and religion.
Rialto: Out of the five films you’re introducing, which film resonated with you the most and why?
WL: Champs had the greatest impact on me. I grew up in the Iron Mike Tyson period and he revolutionised heavy weight boxing, and returned it to the top billing of any global event. The documentary features unbelievable honesty, and old footage shows how deadly all three were in their prime. These three rough-cut nuggets Mike Tyson, Bernard Hopkins and Evander Holyfield show the ugly side of boxing without good money management. How is it possible that the Greatest Heavy Weight Champion in his tenure could possibly spend $300 million dollars to now be broke?
Rialto: The Ground We Won is a beautifully shot film that looks at the role of rugby within our culture and day-to-day lives. It’s also a rather confronting film. What are your thoughts on the connection between rugby and drinking that’s captured here?
WL: The drinking culture in rugby is a bi product of how young NZ men feel that unless they've had a dozen beers no one will listen to them. It's a documentary that will resonate with non-sporting fans as the stories they hear, or belong to in rural communities, is real and sadly has existed for over half a century. It needs to change.
Rialto: I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I’d never heard of Althea Gibson. What an incredible woman and tennis player. Where do you think Althea sits when it comes to the greats of tennis?
WL: Personally alongside all the greats. A word used loosely in sport journalism. The pioneer that broke down all of the ugly aspects of society to pave the way for the tremendous talent that now plays on the World Grand Slams circuit.
Rialto: The Last Gladiators explores an aspect of the professional sport era – life after sport. But what really stunned me about this ice hockey documentary was the intentional, barbaric violence of the game. Can you think of a more violent game, and is it a game that appeals to you?
WL: I've got a number of Canadian friends who view rugby as a brutal sport without pads. Ice hockey like NFL, International Rugby, and League, is a contact sport that, if you're lucky enough to start at a young age, nothing surprises you on the global stage. Your body and top two inches is the reason you’re an elite athlete. No other contact sport with sticks exist and if our team was the best in the world winning Olympic Gold medals it might have interested me.
Rialto: If there was one New Zealand sports star whose story you would love to see made into a film, who would it be and why?
WL: Jonah Lomu. Without Jonah rugby would not have entered the professional age in 1996. A South Auckland young man that was troubled as an adolescent who channeled his frustration, anger and energy into his chosen sport. I consider myself lucky enough to have played with him when he was still at Wesley College aged 18 in a Sevens team organised by Eric Rush in Dubai. He was Special!!!!! Fast forward his illness and All Black time in the 90s, but the best was yet to come. The Rugby World Cup in 1995 in South Africa with Nelson Mandela and their pin up boy Chester Williams was replaced by the Number 11 giant Tongan born legend. Anybody that was there from all sixteen teams will tell you that he was like being around The Beatles of the 60s. He couldn't go anywhere - even with a hoodie and glasses at night. His greatest battle was one tackle that he couldn't break, but right till his last breath he continued to promote the sport that got him out of poverty and onto the global stage.