The documentary film MEDORA which premiered at the 2013 SXSW Festival, will open in theaters on November 8 and on VOD on November 12. MEDORA is directed by Andrew Cohn and Davy Rothbart, and focuses on the members of the Medora Hornets, a rural Indiana high school basketball team fighting to end their losing streak, as their dwindling town faces the threat of extinction.
Years ago, Medora was a booming rural community with prosperous farms, an automotive parts factory, a brick plant, and a thriving middle class. The factories have since closed, crippling Medora’s economy and its pride. The population has slowly dwindled to around 500 people. Drug use is common, the school faces consolidation, and as one resident put it, “This town’s on the ropes.”
MEDORA follows the down-but-not-out Medora Hornets varsity basketball team over the course of the 2011 season, capturing the players’ stories both on and off the court. The Hornets were riding a brutal losing streak when we arrived, and the team’s struggle to compete bears eerie resonances with the town’s fight for survival.
MEDORA is an in-depth, deeply personal look at small-town life, a thrilling, underdog basketball story, and an inspiring tale of a community refusing to give up hope despite the brutal odds stacked against them. On a grander scale, it’s a film about America, and the thousands of small towns across the country facing the same fight. As one towns-person told us, “Once we lose these small towns, we can’t get them back.”
MEDORA will open on Friday November 8 at the Village East in New York City and in the Los Angeles area at the Laemmle Playhouse 7 in Pasadena. In addition, in conjunction with Landmark theaters, Medora will play across the country on November 12 in a series of special screenings at top markets including Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, San Diego, Seattle, Washington DC.
FilmBuff will release MEDORA across all leading Video On Demand platforms in the U.S. and Canada on November 12 including iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, Xbox Video, Sony Playstation and Vudu.
The film will also be available to rent or download directly from the filmmakers at www.medorafilm.com