Amber Midthunder and Dark Winds star Jessica Matten are featured in the Netflix film premiering at Toronto Film Festival.
Get ready to cheer the Chuska Warriors, a high school basketball team from the Navajo Nation, in Rez Ball. Filmed last year in New Mexico, the Netflix production is among the first titles announced Tuesday for the lineup of September’s prestigious Toronto Film Festival. Inspired by Michael Powell’s critically acclaimed nonfiction book Canyon Dreams, the drama was co-written by Reservation Dogs veterans Sydney Freeland (who’s also directing) and Sterlin Harjo, and lists none other than NBA great LeBron James as a producer.
The ensemble cast includes a number of notable Native acting talents, including Jessica Matten of Dark Winds, Amber Midthunder (Prey), Julia Jones (The Mandalorian), Dallas Goldtooth (Reservation Dogs), Cody Lightning (Four Sheets to the Wind) and Ernest Tsosie (Drunktown’s Finest), alongside newcomers Kauchani H. Bratt, Devin Sampson Craig, River Rayne Thomas, Jojo Jackson, Avery Hale, Hunter Redhorse Arthur, Henry Wilson Jr., Jaren K. Robledo, Damian Castellane, Kusem Goodwind and Zoey Reyes.
According to Netflix, Rez Ball is “an all-American underdog story about Native American kids and coaches told from the inside out.” The premise: “After losing their star player, the Warriors must band together if they want to keep their championship dreams alive.” And what is Rez Ball itself? A distinctive version of basketball predominately played by Native American teams in areas such as Arizona and New Mexico. Rez Ball also is played in some high schools in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, California, and Nebraska, and has attracted an avid following in Native American communities sometimes compared to the fandom for high school football in Texas.
Sydney Freeland, whose credits also include the Hulu limited-run series Echo and the Peacock sitcom Rutherford Falls, has high praise for her Rez Ball collaborators.
“I am beyond excited to be working with Netflix, Wise Entertainment, and The SpringHill Company to bring this story to life,” Sydney Freeland said in a prepared statement released by Netflix. “Basketball on the Rez is like high school football in West Texas. It has a fanatical following that few sports can rival. I’m also excited to be working with Sterlin Harjo on this. He has brought so much insight, humor, and heart to this story.
“This is a story that’s commonplace on Indian reservations all over the US, but most people aren’t even aware it exists. What we want to do is bring people into our world, to tell a story about the people and places we know, and what better way to do that than through a sports movie?”
Producer Maurício Mota of Wise Entertainment added: “We could not be more excited to bring this beautiful, powerful story to life with this amazing team. We are eternally grateful to the strategic guidance and advice of the Native American community inside and outside of Hollywood, especially Jodi Archambault (Hunkpapa/Olgala Lakota, former Special Assistant to President Obama for Native American Affairs), Crystal Echo Hawk (Pawnee, CEO of IllumiNative), Bird Runningwater (Cheyenne/Mescalero Apache, Sundance Institute's Indigenous Program) and Notah Begay III (Navajo/San Felipe/Isleta, Stanford University, PGA Tour and philanthropist).
“It was through this community that we were connected with the extraordinary multi-hyphenates Sydney Freeland and Sterlin Harjo whom we spent the last several years developing the script with. We are so honored to be working with them and the brilliant team at The SpringHill Company. Rez Ball aims to be a love letter to the contributions Native Americans have made to basketball and also a launchpad for Native talent both in front of and behind the camera, ready to make their mark in the industry. We want this to be a blueprint for how to balance excellent storytelling with impact and pipeline development.”
