Backwards | |
---|---|
Directed by | Ben Hickernell |
Written by | Sarah Megan Thomas |
Produced by | Sarah Megan Thomas |
Starring | James Van Der Beek, Sarah Megan Thomas, Margaret Colin |
Cinematography | Harlan Bosmajian |
Edited by | Phillip Bartell |
Music by | David Torn |
Distributed by | Phase4 Films, DaDaFilms |
Release date |
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Running time | 89 minutes |
Country | USA |
Backwards is a 2012 American sports romance starring Sarah Megan Thomas and James Van Der Beek. The film is directed by Ben Hickernell and written by Sarah Megan Thomas. It is the first feature film on women's Olympic rowing. [1]
The film was released on September 21 in theaters following the 2012 Summer Olympics which featured rowing events. [2] [1]
Real-life Team USA Olympic rowers Megan Kalmoe, Susan Francia and Caryn Davies, who won the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the quadruple sculls event, attended the film's red carpet movie premiere in New York City.
The film was well received by audiences with iTunes reviewers rating it 4 out of 5 stars. [3] The film was referred to as "a must see for sports enthusiasts." [4] The film was well received in reviews as a feel-good sports drama. [5] Los Angeles Times reviewed the film positively for how it "nicely captures rowing's grace and beauty -- and pain and glory -- against a lovely array of iconic Philadelphia backdrops.... A warm film." [6]
Backwards is rated PG and was awarded the Dove “Family-Approved” Seal. [7]
When a fiercely competitive rower fails to make the Olympic team for the second time, she reluctantly takes a coaching job at her former high school. However, adjusting to life off the race course is not easy, when someone else is living your dream. Backwards is a look at the personal sacrifices and complex choices facing competitive Olympic hopefuls.
Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is divided into two disciplines: sculling and sweep rowing. In sculling, each rower holds two oars, one in each hand, while in sweep rowing each rower holds one oar with both hands. There are several boat classes in which athletes may compete, ranging from single sculls, occupied by one person, to shells with eight rowers and a coxswain, called eights. There are a wide variety of course types and formats of racing, but most elite and championship level racing is conducted on calm water courses 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) long with several lanes marked using buoys.
James William Van Der Beek is an American actor. Known for his portrayal of Dawson Leery on The WB's Dawson's Creek (1998–2003), he also played a fictionalized version of himself on the cult ABC sitcom Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 (2012–2013), starred on CSI: Cyber as FBI Agent Elijah Mundo (2015–2016), and appeared as Matt Bromley on the first season of the FX drama Pose (2018). His film credits include Varsity Blues (1998), Texas Rangers (2001), The Rules of Attraction (2002), Formosa Betrayed (2009), Labor Day (2013), and Bad Hair (2020).
Rowing is the oldest intercollegiate sport in the United States. The first intercollegiate race was a contest between Yale and Harvard in 1852. In the 2018–19 school year, there were 2,340 male and 7,294 female collegiate rowers in Divisions I, II and III, according to the NCAA. The sport has grown since the first NCAA statistics were compiled for the 1981–82 school year, which reflected 2,053 male and 1,187 female collegiate rowers in the three divisions. Some concern has been raised that some recent female numbers are inflated by non-competing novices.
Varsity Blues is a 1999 American coming-of-age sports comedy-drama film directed by Brian Robbins that follows a small-town high school football team through a tumultuous season, in which the players must deal with the pressures of adolescence and their football-obsessed community while having their overbearing coach constantly on their back. In the small fictional town of West Canaan, Texas, football is a way of life and losing is not an option. The film drew a domestic box office gross of $52 million against its estimated $16 million budget despite mixed critical reviews. The film has since gone on to become a cult film.
Kathleen Joan Heddle, was a Canadian Olympic rower. She and her long-time rowing partner Marnie McBean were the first Canadians to be awarded three Olympic gold medals at the Summer Games. They also won a silver in double sculls at the 1994 World Championships.
John Strotbeck III is an American rower, who rowed in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games, and was elected the Olympic team captain in the latter. His company, Boathouse Sports, is a manufacturer of custom team athletic apparel made in the United States. Strotbeck currently lives in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania with his wife Stephanie and son Max.
SC DHfK Leipzig e. V.(Sportclub Deutsche Hochschule für Körperkultur Leipzig e. V.) is a sports club in Leipzig, Germany. Until the closure of the sports university DHfK, the club was part of the DHfK. Established was the club in 1954 as a competitive oriented sports club SC Wissenschaft DHfK Leipzig. The club has 6,696 members and is the biggest of Leipzig.
Sarah Anne Tait was an Australian rower - a national and world champion, three-time Olympian and Olympic-medal winner. She was the first mother to represent Australia in rowing at Olympic level, having returned to international competition following the birth of her daughter.
Kate Hornsey is an Australian former three-time world champion, dual Olympian and Olympic silver medal-winning rower.
Edward Ashley Ives is a former American competitive rower and Olympic silver medalist. He represented the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where he received a silver medal in the men's coxed fours competition with Thomas Kiefer, Michael Bach, Gregory Springer, and John Stillings. Four years later, at the 1988 Summer Olympics, he finished in 9th place in the men's coxless pairs.
Thomas Nisbit "Tom" Kiefer is a former American competitive rower and Olympic silver medalist.
Kathryn Elliott "Kathy" Keeler is an American former competitive rower and Olympic gold medalist. She was a member of the American women's eights team that won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, "the only women's crew in U.S. history to win an Olympic gold medal" until 2008.
Helen Glover is a British professional rower and a member of the Great Britain Rowing Team. Ranked the number 1 female rower in the world in 2015–16, she is a two-time Olympic champion, triple World champion, quintuple World Cup champion and quintuple European champion. She and her partner Heather Stanning were the World, Olympic, World Cup and European record holders, plus the Olympic, World and European champions in the women's coxless pairs. She has also been a British champion in both women's fours and quadruple sculls.
Brenda Catherine Lawson is a New Zealand rower. She was twice world champion in women's double sculls with Philippa Baker, and they were both inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
Maximilian Reinelt was a German rower and physician. He won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, as well as two World Championships and four European Championships. In 2016, he was awarded the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt, Germany's highest sports award.
An American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars is a 2012 American family drama film starring actress Jade Pettyjohn, Ysa Penarejo, Cathy Rigby, Nia Vardalos, and Ian Ziering. This film is based on the McKenna books in the American Girl series written by Mary Casanova. The film is also the second in the series to feature a Girl of the Year character, the first being Chrissa Stands Strong, and is the sixth film in the American Girl series overall.
Women's rowing is the participation of women in the sport of rowing. Women row in all boat classes, from single scull to eights, across the same age ranges and standards as men, from junior amateur through university-level to elite athlete. Typically men and women compete in separate crews although mixed crews and mixed team events also take place. Coaching for women is similar to that for men.
Sarah Megan Thomas is an American actress, writer, director, and producer who has established herself as a filmmaker by creating original and prestigious fare, featuring complex roles for women. Thomas created the concept, co-wrote the story, produced, and starred in the critically well-received Sony Pictures Classics film Equity, which premiered at Sundance and was a New York Times Critic's Pick when released theatrically nationwide.
The Boys in the Boat is a 2023 American biographical sports drama film produced and directed by George Clooney from a screenplay by Mark L. Smith, based on the 2013 book of the same name by Daniel James Brown. The film follows the University of Washington rowing team, and their quest to compete in the 1936 Summer Olympics. It stars Joel Edgerton as coach Al Ulbrickson Sr. and Callum Turner as rower Joe Rantz.