Another sports documentary is heading to HBO. The network and their streaming arm of HBO Max have announced and aired quite a few documentaries recently, and they’ve now picked up a 38-minute film on Jeremy Lin’s remarkable 2011-12 season with the New York Knicks, particularly the 38 points he scored against the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 10, 2012. That’s 38 At The Garden, directed by Frank Chi and produced by Travon Free and Samir Hernandez. It will premiere Sunday at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, and will screen again there the following day, followed by a Hasan Minhaj-moderated discussion featuring Lin, Chi, Free, and Hernandez on the perception of Asian Americans in sports and facing down racism in America today. Here’s more on the film itself from an HBO release:
HBO will debut 38 AT THE GARDEN, directed by Frank Chi and produced by Oscar-winning® filmmakers Travon Free and Samir Hernandez (“Two Distant Strangers”), following its world premiere at The Tribeca Film Festival on June 12. The film will debut on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max this fall.
Synopsis: 38 AT THE GARDEN chronicles the extraordinary ascendance of point guard Jeremy Lin during his landmark 2012 season with the New York Knicks. Lin, an undrafted Harvard graduate, shocked fans, stunned his teammates and galvanized Asians around the world when he scored 38 points at Madison Square Garden against the Los Angeles Lakers, solidifying Lin’s hot streak and the “Linsanity” craze.
A decade later, Lin’s stature as a groundbreaking, cultural icon stands in stark relief to the recent hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. 38 AT THE GARDEN recognizes a pivotal moment in time for Lin, and celebrates a phenomenon that was bigger than basketball for the world.
…38 AT THE GARDEN is a Mr. Fahrenheit and GTG Entertainment production. The film is directed by Frank Chi and produced by Travon Free and Samir Hernandez. Executive Producers, Patricia Sun, Brandon Chu, Kai Huang, Mike Lee, Dave Lu, and Paul Sri. For HBO, executive producer, Bentley Weiner.
And here’s a trailer for it that was released earlier this week:
This is Chi’s first directorial credit on IMDB, but Free in particular has some notable experience. Last year, he won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for Two Distant Strangers, which he wrote and co-directed with Martin Desmond Roe. Free also has two Emmy wins (and four more nominations) for his work writing for Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, and he has notable credits as a writer, director, and producer. He also played NCAA basketball at Long Beach State before a knee injury, then turned to comedy after that, so he has a significant basketball background that should help with this film.
That release also has details on just what’s included in this documentary. It has a new interview with Lin, plus other interviews with ESPN’s Pablo Torre, CNN’s Lisa Ling, former Knicks’ players Tyson Chandler and Iman Shumpert, and comedians Minhaj, Ronny Chieng, and Jenny Yang. So there should be some interesting perspectives on display.
[WarnerMedia; image from IMDB]
