Althea

Althea Gibson, a truant from the rough streets of Harlem, emerged as a most unlikely queen of the highly segregated tennis world of the 1950’s. Gibson was the first African-American to play and win at Wimbledon and Forest Hills, a decade before the great Arthur Ashe, only to be shunned by the tennis establishment. The film details her roots as a sharecropper’s daughter, her family’s migration north to Harlem, her mentoring from Sugar Ray Robinson, David Dinkins, and others, and her rising fame that thrusts her unwillingly into the glare of the early Civil Rights Movement.

Date: Friday, February 6, 6PM
Location: Held Auditorium, 304 Barnard Hall

Filmmaker Rex Miller will join the audience following the screening.

Note: The NY Premiere of Britney Griner: Lifesize will be screened prior to Althea.


Synopsis: This is a rite of passage story of basketball center, Brittney Griner’s, inaugural season with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls. Director Melissa Johnson collaborated with espnW’s Kate Fagan, to not only chronicle Griner’s transformation from amateur to professional, as Griner moves from a celebrated kid with unlimited potential to a self-reliant adult with capacity to make her championship dreams a reality.

Filmmaker Bio:
Director/Cinematographer Rex Miller is a visual storyteller with an extensive background as a photographer/filmmaker, having started originally as a photographer working for local, national and international newspapers and magazines in New York City. For the last 10 years, he has been directing, producing and shooting independent documentary films, as well as content for television. His work has appeared on HBO, PBS National, Tennis Channel, and screened at major national and international film festivals, including Sundance, Berlin, NY Film Festival, Full Frame and South Africa. As cinematographer, his recent work has received 2 Peabody Awards.