Kenosha, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)
TICKETS
Hoop Dynamics is not your usual basketball film. In fact, it rarely discusses basketball. Alyssa Jouett, the director of the film, sets out to find safe, queer sports teams in London. They happen upon the London Cruisers, London’s oldest lesbian, bisexual, trans women and nonbinary basketball team. Through exploration into the queer basketball club, Alyssa starts to heal past wounds from their own basketball experience and finds a new, accepting community in London.
Alyssa Jouett doesn’t just shoot buckets on the basketball court. They have also been spending time shooting a documentary and strengthening their directing skills with their directorial debut Hoop Dynamics. They found inspiration in Hoop Dreams and Framed Youth: The Revenge of the Teenage Perverts for their participatory documentary. Alyssa is a queer filmmaker studying film production at the London Film Academy with an interest in editing and directing. They grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin and have been interested in filmmaking for as long as they can remember. They have been professionally editing for 3+ years previously at the University of Arizona and recently The Gratzi, Inc. Alyssa recently moved to London to experience more of the international film industry. Used to being behind the computer, tackling the role of director has been a welcome challenge that Alyssa has enjoyed immensely.
Director Statement:
The issue of queer people in sports has been one long debated for years; all stemming from the fact that sports have been an extremely gendered and heteronormative pastime since their creation. Yet, those in the LGBTQIA+ community have been left with the same question over and over again. Where do I fit in? I started this project in the hopes of finding an answer. I was on a quest to find safe spaces for queer people in sports. Through the help of my girlfriend and the Out For Sport website, I landed on the London Cruisers basketball community. Two things immediately happened: Hoop Dynamics was born and my love for basketball was reignited.
I originally wanted to keep Hoop Dynamics completely observational to highlight the importance of queer safe spaces in sport through showing queer joy. I soon realized that queer joy wasn’t the only aspect when it comes to the necessity of queer spaces, there is also the aspect of pain in unwelcoming spaces. Hoop Dynamics finds itself balancing the emphasis on the awareness of both topics. This is where I bring in my own story. I have loved basketball since a very young age and spent around 10 years playing recreationally in southeastern Wisconsin. My high school basketball career was spent in turmoil: I loved the sport but didn’t understand where I fit. Being queer on a Christian high school basketball team sounds like a paradox, but it is one that I lived. I felt it was important to tell my story along with the Cruisers to bring the complete picture to the necessity of queer safe spaces in sport.
Hoop Dynamics opened my eyes to the beautiful queer community in London while also helping me heal from past wounds from my own experiences with basketball. I hope to bring the audience on this journey with me; to feel the pain and joy that is exclusive to the queer experience and to ultimately understand the need for more queer safe spaces in sports and community in general.
Running Time: 11 minutes
Documentary/ LGBTQ+
Documentary/ LGBTQ+
Saturday, Sept 7th 7PM
Avalon Atmospheric Theater
2473 S Kinnickinnic Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53207
Avalon Atmospheric Theater
2473 S Kinnickinnic Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53207
TICKETS
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Director Statement:
The issue of queer people in sports has been one long debated for years; all stemming from the fact that sports have been an extremely gendered and heteronormative pastime since their creation. Yet, those in the LGBTQIA+ community have been left with the same question over and over again. Where do I fit in? I started this project in the hopes of finding an answer. I was on a quest to find safe spaces for queer people in sports. Through the help of my girlfriend and the Out For Sport website, I landed on the London Cruisers basketball community. Two things immediately happened: Hoop Dynamics was born and my love for basketball was reignited.
I originally wanted to keep Hoop Dynamics completely observational to highlight the importance of queer safe spaces in sport through showing queer joy. I soon realized that queer joy wasn’t the only aspect when it comes to the necessity of queer spaces, there is also the aspect of pain in unwelcoming spaces. Hoop Dynamics finds itself balancing the emphasis on the awareness of both topics. This is where I bring in my own story. I have loved basketball since a very young age and spent around 10 years playing recreationally in southeastern Wisconsin. My high school basketball career was spent in turmoil: I loved the sport but didn’t understand where I fit. Being queer on a Christian high school basketball team sounds like a paradox, but it is one that I lived. I felt it was important to tell my story along with the Cruisers to bring the complete picture to the necessity of queer safe spaces in sport.
Hoop Dynamics opened my eyes to the beautiful queer community in London while also helping me heal from past wounds from my own experiences with basketball. I hope to bring the audience on this journey with me; to feel the pain and joy that is exclusive to the queer experience and to ultimately understand the need for more queer safe spaces in sports and community in general.
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